Israel has too many elections. The Palestinians have too few. In the last four years, Israel has had five elections. Since 2006 — when Hamas won 74 of the 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council — the Palestinians have had none. Mahmoud Abbas has been serving his “four-year term” as president of the Palestinian Authority since 2005, and there is little evidence that he — or anyone else — will be up for election anytime soon. Part of the reason for the Palestinian Authority’s unwillingness to let the people decide is their understandable concern that Hamas will once again prevail.
