This month’s Palestinian presidential decree setting a date for legislative elections — Nov. 28 — raises a fundamental question: should we see the glass as being half-empty or as half-full? Legislative elections offer a serious opportunity for reform and for injecting new blood into a Palestinian political system that has grown old without delivering liberation and independence. At the same time, skepticism is understandable. Some see the decree as an attempt to engineer election outcomes to protect the interests of those in power.

This month’s Palestinian presidential decree setting a date for legislative elections — Nov. 28 — raises a fundamental question: should we see the glass as being half-empty or as…

Israelis and Palestinians may soon have a rare opportunity to replace the politics of permanent war with leaderships carrying renewed democratic mandates.