Big changes, and yet no changes in political news from Israel. At the end of contentious campaign marked by accusations of corruption, Ariel Sharon and his Likud party have won a commanding victory, upsetting its traditional rival, the Labor party.
With his clear victory in the Israeli parliament, Sharon’s hold on power is stronger than ever, but he still needs to broker a deal with coalition partners. Sharon wants another national unity government with the Labor Party. Labor’s leader Amram Mitza is saying no. So now Sharon will be challenged as to how he’ll deal with the Palestinians, whether his new mandate holds within it, the seeds for peace. Winners and losers and plotting the path of Israeli politics.
Guests:
Ari Shavit, a columnist for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz
Ghassan Khatib, the minister of labor in the Palestinian Authority cabinet
Lior Netzer, an Israeli voter.