[Israel] [Mid East]

Spend time on the ground and you see how high the stakes

are for next month’s contest – for Israelis and

Palestinians alike

Candidates always say it, but this time it’s true. When

Israel goes to the polls on 27 October , it really will be

the most important election in the country’s history – and

not just for Israelis. I saw that for myself this last

week, in a visit that served as a sharp reminder of both

what is at stake – and the role of those watching from

afar.

More than one voter I spoke to voiced the fear that, if

the coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu is returned to

power next month, 27 October will not merely be Israel’s

most important election: it will be its last. They were

not referring to the absence of democracy in the occupied

territory of the West Bank – which we’ll come to – but

rather to Israel’s internationally recognised, pre-1967

borders: what you might call Israel-proper. There, the

last four years have seen a sustained assault on the

machinery of liberal democracy by the most rightwing

government since Israel’s establishment in 1948 – a

committed, focused attempt to remove the checks and

restraints on its own power, installing instead a kind of

elective dictatorship.

Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this

article? If you would like to submit a response of up to

300 words by email to be considered for publication in our

letters section, please click here .

Continue reading...

← All stories ← Wire