Israelis said to favor Gore

Though mired in fresh violence with Palestinians, many Israelis took time out to monitor the U.S. presidential elections, while local polls indicated a majority were hoping for Democratic nominee Al Gore to defeat Republican challenger George W. Bush.

The thinking, according to reports, is that a Gore administration would be better able to pick up the gauntlet of continuing peace negotiations in the wake of the outgoing Clinton administration, but critics in Israel, the United States and among Palestinians say little will change regardless of who wins.

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President Clinton is scheduled to meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak after the election, although sentiment among participants is that Clinton's lame duck presidency may no longer be suited to forge a lasting peace deal.

Clinton is scheduled to meet with Arafat on Thursday; he will receive Barak on Sunday.

Tensions may be exacerbated, however, if Bush wins the presidency because his administration presumably would be staffed by officials who are either untested in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations or, at a minimum, are unfamiliar with the details surrounding the current crisis.

Nevertheless, most Palestinians feel that regardless of who wins in the U.S., little will change for them on the ground in the Mideast.

Many Israelis and Palestinians are comfortable with the Clinton administration and, in particular, President Clinton himself, who, they say, has spent much of his past eight years in office working towards a lasting Mideast peace.