No sooner had the results of the Palestinian elections been announced than Shimon Peres declared an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital to be a dream. The Israeli prime minister's statements, along with near daily warnings that if the Palestinian covenant was not modified the peace process would come to a halt, underscored the paradox of the Palestinian elections: While elections generally indicate a democratic process, in the Palestinian case a democratic right has been permitted in order to legitimize a political process that could well lead to the perpetuation of Israeli control.

Lamis Andoni is an analyst of Middle Eastern affairs who writes for the Christian Science Monitor.