The election is a challenge to Netanyahu and Barak who are vying to govern Israel at this critical time. It is not only a challenge for them but also a battle over the dying peace deal with the Palestinians. The Israelis should make a wise decision to elect a person other than Netanyahu for enduring peace in the Middle East.

ISRAEL appears to be at a cross road. Whether the people of Israel seek durable peace with Palestinians or not. it will be decided at the coming election on 17 May. The hardline government of Netanyahu was determined not to implement the Oslo Accord of 1993 which envisaged peace in exchange of land, i.e occupied land by Israel after the snort 1967 war.

The Israelis found a great opportunity to say clearly that they want peace with their Arab neighbours by defeating the Netanyahu’s government. The Gallop poll found recently that only 42 per cent voters support Netanyahu and if this trend continues Netanyahu’s Likud-led government might not make

Many people think Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu (49) is the most inadequate leader in Israel. His experience as a commando in 1970s. in particular in 1973 Yom Kippur war. fostered an enduring and deep suspicion in his mind about the Palestinians. Netanyahu is known to be proud of his army background and he exploited it at the last 1996 election defeating Mr. Shimon Peres by 30.000 votes.

This time he cannot play the same card because his opponent General Ehud Barak (56) . the Labour Party leader, was his commander at the Yom Kippur war. Furthermore General Barak is one of the distinguished military heroes in Israel and Israelis have long memories for heroism.

Netanyahu’s political style and attitude towards Arabs led both to a drop in his popularity and distrust and instability within his coalition govern-

ment. Many of his Ministers are suspicious of him and very few believe what he says. The Defence Minister Mordecai resigned and left and formed a new party to oppose Netanyahu in the election. As a result the Likud party voters are divided.

The Jews in Israel are divided on the basis of their origins. The European Jews . known as Ashkenazim, are rich and dominate all strata of the society and the Jews who migrated from Arab countries . known as Sephardim, have the lowest paid Jobs and live in the poorest area. They are the most disadvantages community in Israel and are discriminated by the Ashkenazim Jews. Mr. Mordecai is a Sephardim Jew and he rallied around him the dissatisfied Sephardim voters from Likud Party. This is a new challenge Netanyahu has to face. During a recent TV interview Mordecai put Netanyahu, usually a good performer, in a defensive position and Netanyahu was seen as nervous before Mordecai.

The leader of the ultra right Jews party. Areyah Deri, who supported Netanyahu and was a Cabinet member is in deep trouble. He had to resign because the court convicted him for bribery. He made a video for the election campaign comparing his bribery conviction to the trial of Adolf Eichmann in the 1960s and this infuriated the politicians and people in the country. As a result his right wing religious party is in shambles.

The Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon might face a fraud charge and the police recom-' mended charging Sharon for allegedly offering a business deal

to a former General in exchange of favourable testimony in a libel case. These two events appear to overshadow the election campaign of Netanyahu.

The ordinary people has been disillusioned with Netanyahu's antics and doubletalking. He lost confidence with the ring wing when he signed the Maryland Wye agreement last October under pressure of the US to withdraw Israeli troops from a town in the West Bank. Besides the political difficulties. Israel's economy did not perform well during Netanyahu’s government. Inflation is almost 10 per cent while the growth in GDP has slowed down considerably.

In'Israel, the Prime Minister is elected by the people. If any candidate gets 50 per cent vote the person is elected but the candidate fails to obtain the required 50 per cent vote, then there is a second run-off election between two candidates who received highest number of

The election is a challenge to Netanyahu and Barak who arc vying to govern Israel at this critical time. It is not only a challenge for thehi but also a battle over the dying peace deal with the Palestinians. The Israelis should make a wise decision to elect a person other than Netanyahu for enduring peace in the Middle East. The 19th century famous French novelist Alexandre Dumas said that all human wisdom is summed up in two words -wait and hope and the world is doing exactly that for the result of the Israeli election.

The writer is former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN in Europe, Geneva.