launcher169
Lord of Chaos
Hiya all,
this is a summary of the internal divisions within Israel and how this has impacted on the peace process
Short Version:
Labour wants peace and adopts the policy of Land for Peace
Likud will only get peace of Israel does not have to conceed any land
Long and More detailed Version (covers 1979-1996)
The Israeli internal divisions consist of the Labour and Likud parties, and the points of difference are ideological and ethnical.
The Likud party’s ideology is right wing, highly nationalistic and religious in nature. This ideology is more appealing to the Sephardic Jews than to the Ashkenazi, leading to Likud having the Sephardic Jews as their political base. (Ashkenazi refers to the Jews who migrated from Europe...people who are Ashkenazi include David Ben-Gurion, Shimon Peres etc; Sephardic on the other hand refer to Jews who migrated from other places such as north africa, the arab countries and increasingly, the former USSR)
Politically, the main point of division between the Labour and Likud parties is over the status of the conquered territories in the West Bank and the Gaza strip.
Likud’s policy on the territories is that they are to be kept Israeli in the interests of national security and on religious grounds. To achieve this policy the Likud governments advanced a settlement approach in the conquered territories.
The Lebanon invasion of 1982 shows Likud’s aggressive nature; and the deceit and deception that the Likud government showed during the war concerning the war’s objectives lead to opposition by the Israeli public.
This climaxed after the Sabra and Chatila massacres where a mass demonstration in Tel Aviv where 10% of the Israeli population participated. This led to Israel withdrawing from Beirut and the resignation of Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon.
The formation of a National Unity government with the Labour party demonstrates Likud’s willingness to co-operate in the interest of Israel. The Likud party’s stance on the peace negotiation with the Palestinians and with the Arabs was only agree if Israel wins.
This is demonstrated by Yitzhak Shamir’s stubbornness in the Madrid conference after the Gulf War. Benyamin Netanyahu took steps that ‘killed the Spirit of Oslo’ that Labour agreed four years earlier. The impact that the Likud party had upon Arab-Israeli relations is significant in the conflict as their hard line radicalized the Arabs.
The Labour party on the other hand, has a different ideology than the Likud party. Labour’s ideology is more left-wing and secular in nature. Ethnically, the party is led by Ashkenazi’s and Labour’s political base is Ashkenazi in contrast to Likud’s Sephardic base.
Labour’s policy on the Arab-Israeli conflict during this period is adopting the ‘Land for peace’ policy. During the Lebanese war, the Labour party backed the initial invasion but joined the opposition after the massacres of Sabra and Chatila.
During the Intifada it was the Labour defense minister Yitzhak Rabin who initiated the ‘Break their bones’ policy which demonstrates Labour’s ability to unify in an national emergency.
When the Labour party came to power in June 1992, Rabin promised to sign an agreement with the Palestinians in six months however, due to attacks on Israelis by the Hamas, the peace negotiations stalled. Only through a secret channel (the Oslo talks) that Rabin and Shimon Peres were able to negotiate a peace settlement with the PLO.
Yitzhak Rabin, for all his efforts was assassinated by a right-wing Jewish extremist on November 4th 1996 which shows the opposition to peace is Israel.
The Labour party for most of this period was not a key policy maker in regards to the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was only when the Likud party was put into opposition that the Labour policy of ‘land for peace’ could be implemented.
Labour made most of the ground breaking agreements with the Arabs..however one thing to consider was that it was Likud that made the Camp David accords with Egypt...their greatest threat
hope this helped
this is a summary of the internal divisions within Israel and how this has impacted on the peace process
Short Version:
Labour wants peace and adopts the policy of Land for Peace
Likud will only get peace of Israel does not have to conceed any land
Long and More detailed Version (covers 1979-1996)
The Israeli internal divisions consist of the Labour and Likud parties, and the points of difference are ideological and ethnical.
The Likud party’s ideology is right wing, highly nationalistic and religious in nature. This ideology is more appealing to the Sephardic Jews than to the Ashkenazi, leading to Likud having the Sephardic Jews as their political base. (Ashkenazi refers to the Jews who migrated from Europe...people who are Ashkenazi include David Ben-Gurion, Shimon Peres etc; Sephardic on the other hand refer to Jews who migrated from other places such as north africa, the arab countries and increasingly, the former USSR)
Politically, the main point of division between the Labour and Likud parties is over the status of the conquered territories in the West Bank and the Gaza strip.
Likud’s policy on the territories is that they are to be kept Israeli in the interests of national security and on religious grounds. To achieve this policy the Likud governments advanced a settlement approach in the conquered territories.
The Lebanon invasion of 1982 shows Likud’s aggressive nature; and the deceit and deception that the Likud government showed during the war concerning the war’s objectives lead to opposition by the Israeli public.
This climaxed after the Sabra and Chatila massacres where a mass demonstration in Tel Aviv where 10% of the Israeli population participated. This led to Israel withdrawing from Beirut and the resignation of Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon.
The formation of a National Unity government with the Labour party demonstrates Likud’s willingness to co-operate in the interest of Israel. The Likud party’s stance on the peace negotiation with the Palestinians and with the Arabs was only agree if Israel wins.
This is demonstrated by Yitzhak Shamir’s stubbornness in the Madrid conference after the Gulf War. Benyamin Netanyahu took steps that ‘killed the Spirit of Oslo’ that Labour agreed four years earlier. The impact that the Likud party had upon Arab-Israeli relations is significant in the conflict as their hard line radicalized the Arabs.
The Labour party on the other hand, has a different ideology than the Likud party. Labour’s ideology is more left-wing and secular in nature. Ethnically, the party is led by Ashkenazi’s and Labour’s political base is Ashkenazi in contrast to Likud’s Sephardic base.
Labour’s policy on the Arab-Israeli conflict during this period is adopting the ‘Land for peace’ policy. During the Lebanese war, the Labour party backed the initial invasion but joined the opposition after the massacres of Sabra and Chatila.
During the Intifada it was the Labour defense minister Yitzhak Rabin who initiated the ‘Break their bones’ policy which demonstrates Labour’s ability to unify in an national emergency.
When the Labour party came to power in June 1992, Rabin promised to sign an agreement with the Palestinians in six months however, due to attacks on Israelis by the Hamas, the peace negotiations stalled. Only through a secret channel (the Oslo talks) that Rabin and Shimon Peres were able to negotiate a peace settlement with the PLO.
Yitzhak Rabin, for all his efforts was assassinated by a right-wing Jewish extremist on November 4th 1996 which shows the opposition to peace is Israel.
The Labour party for most of this period was not a key policy maker in regards to the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was only when the Likud party was put into opposition that the Labour policy of ‘land for peace’ could be implemented.
Labour made most of the ground breaking agreements with the Arabs..however one thing to consider was that it was Likud that made the Camp David accords with Egypt...their greatest threat
hope this helped