Editorial #4

The Israeli parliament will probably approve a new government that, from Washington's point of view, looks problematic. Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu had a rocky relationship with the Clinton administration when he last held the post in the late 1990s. His new coalition is dominated by nationalists and religious fundamentalists; his choice for foreign minister has proposed stripping Arabs of citizenship unless they pledge their loyalty to Israel as a Jewish state. Arab leaders are sounding the alarm about a coalition that, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat charged on the opposite page Saturday, exemplifies "some of the worst traditions in Israeli politics."

This is a problem that the new administration needs to work on. The problem with this new government is that it could start another war just like the one we have on Afghanistan and Iraq at the moment. I worry that the United states is too concerned with other countries, while we are in trillions of dollars in debt and are struggling to keep our own economy floating. I think the United states needs to back off from trying to save other nations while we struggle to save our own.