Israel's dilemmas

The paroxysm of violence that erupted in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza at the end of September came less than three months after Prime Minister Eh ud Barak had reduced the gap in Israeli and Palestinian negotiating positio ns to the narrowest point ever - and lost his governing majority. This chai n of events illustrates the policy dilemma that has plagued Barak since his first day in office. Reduced to its bare essence, the dilemma stems from t he simultaneous fragmentation of the Israeli political system along multipl e axes, making it extremely difficult to assemble a majority coalition for decisive action along any single one of them. The rationalisation of Israel i politics is necessary to move the peace process forward, but a domestical ly marketable peace agreement may be necessary to rationalise Israeli polit ics. An Israeli prime minister's ability to break this vicious circle will determine not only his own political fate but perhaps the very viability of Israeli democracy in its present form.