Palestinians fear for peace process after Israeli vote

RAMALLAH, West Bank, (AFP) - Faced with a possible right-wing Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Palestinian Authority is bracing for its tottering peace talks with the Jewish state to halt completely.
“It is obvious that Israel will not get a government capable of continuing the negotiations,” said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top aide of Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.
“These elections have complicated the political situation in the region,” Abed Rabbo told AFP.
“It’s obvious the Israelis have voted to paralyse the peace process,” senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.
“The outcome of the Israeli elections indicates there won’t be in Israel a government capable of doing what is needed to achieve peace.”
Fawzi Barhum, a spokesman for the Islamist Hamas rulers of Gaza, said Israelis had voted for “extremists.”
“These results confirm that the Israeli public has voted for the most bellicose candidates, those who are the most extremist in their rhetoric,” he said.
“The arrival of the Livni-Netanyahu-Lieberman trio confirms that the terrorist culture dominates Israeli voters.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s electoral lurch to the right throws cold water on US President Barack Obama’s push to keep Middle East peace hopes alive and shore up US interests in the region, experts said Wednesday.
“The election results are bad news for the region’s security and stability,” said Ori Nir, spokesman for Americans for Peace Now.
“They are very bad news for the Obama administration, which seems determined to push for Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab peace,” he added in a statement sent by e-mail.
Meanwhile, Arab newspapers and analysts voiced pessimism on Wednesday about Israel’s indecisive election, with many voicing fears that the real winner was the extreme-right wing party of Avigdor Lieberman.