Great piece by Dan Perry of AP, from Tel Aviv, headlined “Israel left wing sees Jewish state’s end.” This is important because Ehud Olmert’s declaration of a few years ago, that Israel is committing suicide, is finally entering the mainstream in the United States. Though the Israeli speakers in the piece, including Amos Oz of J Street and Yuval Diskin of the Gatekeepers, are trying to save Zionism; they state that the choice is between rightwing apartheid and Palestinian rule. Maybe the choice is between apartheid and democracy? (Thanks to Omar Barghouti). Perry:

An apocalyptic tone has crept into Israel’s hitherto muted election season, with opposition leaders and others sounding increasingly desperate warnings that a few more years of rule by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s heavily favored right wing might well destroy the Jewish state.

…Perhaps the most strident proponent of this message is former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who four years ago led peace talks with the Palestinians and recently founded a new party whose primary message is that the Zionist project is in danger. “Netanyahu is leading us toward the end of the Jewish state,” she said in a statement Friday. “Israelis must choose between extremism and Zionism. Israel is in great danger and everyone must wake up now.”

Outgoing opposition leader Shaul Mofaz, a former military chief and defense minister, warns at campaign appearances that Arabs will soon outnumber Jews in the Holy Land and the main strategic priority must be to partition the land to prevent the emergence of a “binational state.” Leaders of the main center-left Labor Party say much the same.