There are some signs that there may be some structural changes coming in Israel. A new party, Israel Akheret (A Different Israel), is focusing on how the government works. Israel's dysfunctional "democracy" is in bad need of overhaul. The war with the Palestinians is only one of the many problems besetting Israel. Too many minority groups that can blackmail the government for their support — such as the settlers. And it's Israeli youth that are doing it. Maybe there is hope for Israel's future.

Life for the Party
Israel Akheret's Fresh Vision

The movement's mere existence is surprising in an apathetic student population dedicated to "passive protest," a nice euphemism for whining.

"We have always been accused of caring only about ourselves," said Danny Frishman, a 24-year-old student in Jerusalem and one of the party's first members. "Now you see hundreds of people coming and saying they are willing to work for change. Everywhere people tell us, 'We've been waiting for something like this to happen.'

"We all share the feeling that something is going terribly wrong in this country," he said. "Not just the situation between us and the Palestinians. The problems within our own society are much bigger, but the government only worries about Arafat.
[read more]

---------

But the old way of Israeli thinking is getting uglier and uglier.

At Checkpoint in Gaza, Travelers Wait and Wait

In the West Bank, some Palestinian cities and towns have become isolated enclaves, surrounded by troops and tanks. But the restrictions are nowhere felt more sharply than by the 1.3 million people of the Gaza Strip, which has been effectively cut in half and sometimes into thirds by checkpoints set up in large part to safeguard the travel of Gaza's 7,100 Jewish settlers.

"This is a way for them to demonstrate hour by hour that they are masters over our lives," said a leading human rights advocate in Gaza, Raji Sourani. "People think of Gaza as liberated. But the Israelis can make our lives as miserable as ever."

To spend a hot, dusty day at the Abu Houli checkpoint is to hear of endless problems it has brought — families divided and jobs lost, sick people kept from their doctors and fish rotting on its way to market.

It is also to witness how the demands of Israeli settlers, concerns for Israeli security and a sense of humiliation among Palestinians feed the Middle East conflict day by day.
[read more]