February 12, 2009

This edition went to press before the full results of the Israeli election were known. We write this not knowing for sure whether Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu or Kadima’s Tzipi Livni came out on top, or if Avigdor Lieberman of the Yisrael Beitenu party emerged as the potential kingmaker in Israel’s parliamentary-style government. Pollsters were scratching their heads at the number of voters who approached Election Day still undecided (sound familiar?).

Besides, Election Day in Israel is often just the start of a process of horse-trading and deal-making, as the leading vote-getters seek to cobble together a government from a list of parties that reflects Israel’s mosaic: secular and religious, Ashkenazi and Sephardi, new immigrants and aging old-timers.

But there is one thing we can predict will not happen — no matter who wins, Israelis will not reject the results, or take to the streets in violent protest, or seek extra-democratic ways to change the outcome. Despite a near-constant security threat and an excess of religious and cultural divisions, Israel’s democracy remains robust, its commitment to the rule of law undiminished. That’s no small thing, considering the neighborhood it finds itself in.

The Obama administration is holding its breath, awaiting the results. Will Livni remain their partner, or will it be Netanyahu? And if Netanyahu, will his actions be as hard-line as his words, or will he remind diplomats of the Bibi of the 1990s, who basically nurtured a peace process started by his rivals on the Left?

In fact, Israel has a way of defying the pundits — left-wingers get tough and wage war, right-wingers take risks for peace. At their best, Israel’s leaders remain responsive and are subject to the prevailing mood of the people they lead. That’s the mark of true democracy.

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