Mitsu Yasukawa/Staff Photographer
Israeli native Linoy Tsurmagen, in Tenafly on Wednesday, backs Netanyahu but feels he wont focus enough on social issues.
Jews and Palestinians across North Jersey took stock of chances for peace between Israel and its Palestinian and Arab neighbors Wednesday as it became clear that Israelis had decisively reelected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus Likud Party coalition in a hard-fought battle that saw Netanyahu make a last-minute comeback after dropping in the polls the week before the election.
Amy Newman/Staff photographer
Ghazi Salim, a Palestinian native who was at the Royal Salon barbershop in Paterson on Wednesday, doesnt believe anything will change.
Abraham Foxman, the Bergen County-based director of the Anti-Defamation League of Bnai Brith, said he welcomed the news of the outcome, saying it reaffirmed the strength of Israeli democracy, and expressed the hope that it would move Israel closer toward peace.
As long as Israel continues to be a democracy, there is hope for peace, Foxman said.
Asked if he thought Netanyahus pre-election renunciation of a two-state solution would make peace a more difficult goal to attain, Foxman said he did not see Netanyahus statement as necessarily ending the possibility of a Palestinian state.
I read him to say that he does not believe a Palestinian state will come about in his term in office, Foxman said. He was reflecting reality as he saw it.
In reelecting the Likud coalition, Israelis chose life over quality of life, Foxman said, quoting the Israeli commentator Aryeh Mikel.
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North Jerseyans divided on whether Israel is moving toward peace