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over the West Bank, Sinai, and the Golan : older people, whose
psychological map of the country was moulded in the 1949-1967
period, are much more conscious of the pre-1967 borders and their
political and demographical consequences. Nor are exhortations
about the Jewish historical rights to Jericho and Tul-Karm merely
abstruse claims any more, as they were before 1967: these places are
real and visible, many young Israelis spent their army years in their
vicinity, and the newcomers have been absorbed into society in a
way which makes it possible for them to follow these debates with
comprehension.
One of the results of this shift in the political agenda is that
people who grew up in the post-1967 atmosphere tend to support
Likud on balance more than older people. Israeli universities offer
an unusual paradox: most of the faculty tend to be liberal and left
wing, while the student activists, who managed to capture most of
the student organizations at the universities , are right-wing
supporters.
Those Labor supporters who tried to console themselves after
the elections that Likud's victory was merely an outcome of Begin's
personality, now have to contend with these long-range develop–
ments . They also have to face the fact that after Begin's disappear–
ance, the Likud will possess a number of popular possible suc–
cessors: Ariel Sharon, the Minister of Defense, is certainly not the
darling of the Israeli left wing, but he is immensely popular in the
country; David Levy, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of
Housing, is a young Moroccan textile worker from a development
town in the north, who represents the populist support for the Likud
among 'Oriental' blue-collar workers; and Yoram Aridor, the
Minister of Finance, who through the introduction of tax cuts and
reduction of import duties helped to create a consumer boom in the
country, albeit at the cost of long-range problems. This is a powerful
trio, and Labor is still at a loss to supply new faces to counter them:
the old, tired leadership of Labor is not exactly appealing to those
who really want a change.
Does all this mean that Labor has no chance in the future? Cer–
tainly not. After all, the parliamentary strength of Labor is almost
equal to that of the Likud, and Begin's coalition has a threadbare
majority in the Knesseth. Yet even were Labor to win the next elec–
tions, it would not return to its former position as an unchallenged
hegemonic party, with no viable opposition to replace it-as Labor
