by Ari Sharp

Today Ari reports from the Online Cafe in Eilat, Israel, the ‘Surfers Paradise of the Middle East’.

It is strange that in a country where politics in very often a matter of life and death that the smaller, more domestic issues often dominate the electoral discourse.

In the last week of campaigning, the story of terror, occupation, violence and peace has run a distant third to two other stories.

The first one revolves around serious allegations of corruption and bribery in the Likud (conservative, led by PM Ariel Sharon) primary elections held in November. Already the scandal has claimed one scalp, with now-former minister Nomi Blumenthal being sacked during the week after she exercised her right to silence in police investigations in the matter. [Read more…]