Israeli Elections 1996

VOTE NOW! SITUATIONS / FLASH CARDS

1. Mid-April - after repeated Katusha attacks on the Galilee, the IDF launches several air strikes against Hizbullah (an Islamic terrorist group based in Lebanon with support from Syria and Iran) targets beyond its self-proclaimed security zone in Southern Lebanon in Lebanon. Israeli residents of the Galilee are forced to stay constantly in their bomb shelters for fear of Hizbullah reprisals.
   Vote on either:
   1. Israel is still engaged in Operation "Grapes of Wrath" on election day and many inhabitants of Kiryat Shmonah and other northern Israeli settlements have decided to move out until there is quiet in the north.
      or:
   2. Hizbullah agrees to return to the modus vivendi established in 1993 [after Operation "Accountability"], ceasing its attacks on northern Israel.
   
   VOTE NOW!

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2. Vote on one or other of the following options:
   either:
   1. On 7 May, the deadline for the PLO to strike anti-Israel clauses from its charter, Palestine Authority rais (chairman) Yasser Arafat announces that the Palestine National Council cannot convene until Israel has fulfilled its commitment of pulling out of Hebron, which it was supposed to have done by 28 March but has yet to do because of the spate of bombings in late February/early March.
   
   or:
   2. On 7 May, The Palestine National Council votes to replace the 1968 PLO charter, which called for the destruction of Israel, with a new charter which recognizes israel's right to exist. The new charter calls for the immediage establishment of a Palestinian state in the West bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its eternal capital, which is a "must" for continuing the peace process begun in 1993.

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3. Mid-May - the Hamas perpetrates three terror attacks simultaneously in Jerusalem, Haifa, and Tel Aviv. In Jerusalem, the bomber is foiled by soldiers, but suicide bombers kill over two dozen at a Haifa mall and near Dizengoff Center [Tel Aviv]. The Hamas announces that it intends to bring Likud to power, which will end the peace process and thus reunite the Palestinian people in their struggle to destroy the Zionists.

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4. Late May - in the wake of President Clinton's certification that the Palestinian Authority is complying with the Oslo accords, Israel bows to pressure and reopens the territories. Meanwhile, the PA strikes all anti-Israel clauses from the PLO charter. However, CNN reports the discovery of a secret document between Arafat and Hamas, according to which Arafat will release jailed Hamas activists if it Hamas refrains from violence against Israelis until after the Israeli elections.

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5. POST-ELECTION SCENARIOS - choose one of the two options and answer the questions below:
   1. May 30: The Likud/Tzomet/Gesher ticket edges out Labor by 48 to 42 seats, as the swing vote overwhelmingly leans right. Tsomet, NRP, and United Torah Judaism win a combined 13 seats, giving the right a blocking majority. However, Shimon Peres [Labor] edges out Binyamin Netanyahu [Likud] in the Prime Ministerial race by a narrow margin.
   2. May 30: As Peres wins the vote for Prime Minister, Labor wins 46 and Meretz another 7 to give the left a 53-43 edge over the right wing bloc. However, they need either two religious parties or one plus the two center parties (Third Way and Yisrael Ba'Aliya, with two each) to make the coalition.

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• How will the peace process continue if the Prime Minister cannot form a coalition where his party is the main component?


• If you were the President and the PM could not form a colation, would you advise the PM to form a national unity government or would you call for new elections? What are the implications?


• If the religious parties demand legislation cutting funding of non- Orthodox instutions in return for supporting the peace process, should the PM compromise?

In either scenario, should Shimon Peres:
1. push forward the peace process at the same pace,

or
2. slow it down for the sake of 'national unity'?