Israel's political left and peace groups were once a substantial force in Israeli society. However, since the collapse of the Oslo Accords, those voices have largely receded into obscurity and been overshadowed by Israel's right-wing. Israeli philosopher and psychologist Carlo Strenger asks the question: why?
Why then this contrast between Israel's human and cultural reality and its political class? Israel's liberal citizenry has all but disappeared from the political scene: Until the late 1990s, the square in Tel Aviv renamed after Yitzhak Rabin after his assassination was the scene of demonstrations that hundreds of thousands attended: against Sharon after the massacre of Sabra and Shatila; for peace – including the rally at which Rabin was murdered. In the last years Rabin Square has not seen any major demonstrations of Israel's liberals...
