Yossi Zur, whose son was killed three years ago in a bombing, wants Israel to have as little as possible to do with Palestinians -- including sitting on opposite sides of a negotiating table. ``The only thing that will really work is clear and defined borders with a fence,'' he says.

Most Israelis share Zur's view, which explains why the Kadima Party is leading in polls for the March 28 election, even though it was formed less than four months ago and its founder, Ariel Sharon, 78, lies in a coma. Kadima's new leader, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said in newspaper interviews last week that he aims to set Israel's final borders by 2010 and ``completely separate'' from most
Palestinians. Meanwhile, he is pressing ahead with construction of a 410-mile barrier straddling Israel's border with the West Bank and avoiding renewed peace talks.

``There's a feeling that we have to get out of the West Bank,'' says Gadi Wolfsfield, a professor of political science at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. ``People thought we would get something in return, but now, voters are asking, `What's the point?' Let's just get out.''

Violence flared this week in the Gaza Strip, now under Palestinian rule, when the Israeli military raided a Jericho prison to capture five inmates arrested for the assassination of a minister. Two Palestinians were killed and four wounded, prompting a wave of kidnappings and arson attacks by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Bloomberg, March 17, 2006