Summer Recess

This will be my final posting before taking a hiatus for what promises to be an insanely busy summer. Israel will soon be overrun with tourists but their presence won't have any effect on upcoming political developments. Here are the hot issues of the summer that I will be monitoring (although chances are good that by the time I resume posting in late September, most of them will be old news):
The Labor Party Primaries - Monday's five-way contest left Ehud Barak and Ami Ayalon in the final run-off in two weeks' time. Both winning candidates were pictured on the front page of Haaretz with one of their their parents, 89 and 92 years of age, who dutifully deposited their respective votes in kibbutz ballot boxes. This was an interesting juxtaposition - what can we learn from it? That the kibbutz movement has produced many of the country's current leaders and thus continues to shape Israel's future even though the kibbutz itself is not long for this world? That both Ayalon and Barak have strong longevity genes and will remain on the political scene for many years to come, whether we like it or not? Or maybe that life expectancy on kibbutz is longer, as long as you stay out of politics? Or perhaps just that the parents of famous politicians are like all other Jewish mothers and fathers who like to brag about their children.
I can't say I feel strongly about either of them. Barak has a brilliant mind and has accumulated a decent amount of experience in politics but he's arrogant and not a team player. Ayalon seems promising, but how many times have we been disappointed in a new leader? His detractors say he's as left-wing as Yossi Beilin, as inexperienced as Amir Peretz and as nasty as Ehud Barak. Sounds like a winning combination, huh? Still, there's an impressive cleanliness about him - maybe that's because he looks like Mr. Clean (but without the earring).
Speaking of Amir Peretz, he made a very impressive showing in the primaries, considering all of the abuse he's been taking since the war last summer. As bad as things look for him as leader of the party it is clear he will remain a powerful presence in the Labor party because he has an extremely solid power base. Keep an eye on him...
The Gaza Strip - This cursed little pinpoint on the globe is the root of most of our problems at the moment. For starters, the captive soldier Gilad Shalit is still being held here for what is close to one year, and the longer he's there the more complicated his release grows.
Secondly, the rockets continue to rain down on Sderot and its environs and no one has a remedy for the matter. Clearly, the only sure way to put a stop to the launchings is to reoccupy Gaza, which means lots of casualties, a price no one is willing to pay as long as most of the rockets do not result in direct hits on civilians. Meanwhile, Sderot is one big bubbling cauldron of traumatic stress disorder and no one has offered a solution to protect them. This is a classic example of the futility of Israel's military advantage. Levi Eshkol called it "Samson the nebech."
Lastly, the chaos in Gaza and the internecine fighting between Fatah and Hamas have grown so out of hand that Israeli journalists report that many Gazans are praying for Israel to invade and restore the old order there. The Palestinian leadership is paralyzed for a variety of reasons, and while some enjoy gloating over their misfortune, ultimately the situation is bad for us, too. Who will save the Palestinians from themselves? Can't see a savior on the horizon.

The future here remains, as always, completely unpredictable. Who can say what the summer will bring - war, peace, the continued suspension between the two? If anything earth-shattering happens (i.e. an event that sends all the tourists home and puts me out of work) I will be back on the blog, reporting. If all stays quiet I will resume writing in late September after my vacation in New York. Wishing you all a quiet and uneventful summer!