They Talk of Days for Which They Sit and Wait: Abbas, Netanyahu, and the Abandonment of Moderation in Modern Israeli-Palestinian Relations
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Date
2017-08
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
The primary aim of this thesis is to explore what influences governability in polarized societies; specifically, why democratic leaders move from moderation to intransigence on policy proposals. It argues that there are two main factors making for un-governability in polarized societies. The first is the constraint placed on leaders’ choices by the force of public opinion, which precludes those leaders from compromising with one another. Public opinion alone is not sufficient to explain this dynamic, however, as public opinion remains largely stable in the medium to long term while the actions and preferences of leaders can change drastically in the short term. Consequently, while public opinion is the underlying condition that sets parameters from which politicians would be wise not to stray, the second and at times more compelling factor is how public opinion is refracted through the internal dynamics of political coalitions and, by extension, how politicians manipulate public opinion to suit their own purposes.
To demonstrate the validity of the above arguments, I will analyze an issue that has once again entered the political limelight thanks in part to the Trump administration: the political polarization in, and dubious governability of, modern Israel. More specifically, I will examine two separate cases in which public opinion interacted with coalition dynamics to constrain the ability of leaders to govern through compromise – one each for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Mahmoud Abbas. Netanyahu’s case study revolves around his capitulation to more extreme elements within his governing coalition that sought to pass a bill to seize Palestinian land and deny those Palestinians the right to claim ownership until a diplomatic solution was reached regarding the status of the territories; for Abbas, I will analyze his most recent attempt to formalize a relationship between his party, Fatah, and his primary opposition, Hamas. Of importance to the latter case are the recent Fatah-inspired electricity cuts and the withholding of pay to Palestinian Authority employees within the Gaza Strip that refuse to stop working under Hamas’ rule.
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Keywords
Abbas, Netanyahu, Israel, Palestine, Governance, Moderation