The Longest Yawn

The big showdown campaign in Israel turns out to be a snooze

IT HAD BEEN BILLED AS THE GRAND BATTLE OF THE Yitzhaks: a robust election campaign pitting Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir against the toughest foe he has faced -- the former and newly returned head of the Labor Party, Yitzhak Rabin. Instead, the fight has shriveled into what the Jerusalem Post last week called "the Longest Yawn." Voters are so overcome with ennui that the major parties are canceling campaign events for lack of attendance. Posters and banners can hardly be seen in the streets. And Shamir's Likud is moaning that the Venezuelan soap opera Crystal is drawing the party's natural...

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