All Eyes on Israel.

I was saddened to read that Mr Netanyahu and his Likud Party won the election in Israel. My first thought was that the Israeli people had missed an opportunity to regain the approbation of the world after that excessive nastiness in Gaza. My second was to wonder whether the result had made Israel a more dangerous place for Israelis to live. But now I have to come down to the wire.

When the powerful Israeli military machine was killing and maiming innocent Palestinians and their children by the trainload, it was tempting and easy to excuse the ordinary citizens and blame it all on Netanyahu and his hard line cronies. But the ordinary citizens have now voluntarily returned the hard liners to power, so where does that leave the world community and its attitude to Israel?

Could it be why the powerful American political machine has openly stated its disapproval of Netanyahu’s campaigning rhetoric, most notably his promise never to allow the creation of a Palestinian state? Could this be the beginning of America finally distancing itself from Israel?

I expect there are complex power politics in play here – there always are – but I still think it’s a space worth watching.