Despite the hope of change entertained by the Israeli left, the recent elections in Israel have confirmed Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud as the largest party.
As Netanyahu strives to cobble together a hard-right coalition -- against the earlier wishes of President Reuven Rivlin who wanted a "national unity" government -- he is driving yet another nail into the coffin of the two-state solution, as the settlement juggernaut continues its unstoppable momentum, further derailing the prospects for peace.
The future looks bleak for the Palestinians, both within Israel and in the occupied territories. Palestinians in the West Bank are likely to see more of their land disappear under the foundations of new settlements and more of their civil rights trampled under the boots of the occupation.
In Israel and Jerusalem, the rising tide of anti-Arab sentiment is likely to surge in light of the clear race-baiting that occurred during the elections. The two most notorious incidents involved Netanyahu, who tried to get right-wingers to flock to voting stations by tapping into their deepest anxieties and prejudices with his warning that "Arab voters are going in droves to the polls." Earlier, outgoing foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman sounded like a wannabe recruit to the Islamic State (ISIS) when he suggested that "disloyal" Arab citizens "deserve to have their heads chopped off with an axe."
But the massing dark clouds have contained some slivers of silver lining. Despite the grim mood in progressive circles, some Israeli leftists are consoling themselves that, collectively, the left has become a little stronger in this election and the right has weakened.
Some Palestinian commentators and observers believe that Netanyahu, with his explicit dismissal of the two-state solution and his vitriolic anti-Arab rhetoric, will force the West to rethink its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and take more robust action to bring about a resolution.
While there are plenty of signs of disappointment, anger and soul-searching in Washington and other Western capitals -- which are bound to grow in light of the latest Israeli spying scandal -- it is not a foregone conclusion that anything fundamental will change. The U.S. and Europe may find a novel way to fudge the issues, while paying lip service to the long-deceased peace process. Another possibility is that Washington and the EU may simply disengage from the process, as they fight fires elsewhere.
Galvanized by their increasingly embattled position and right-wing efforts to sideline them politically, the long-divided Arab parties in Israel joined forces, with spectacular results. Under the charismatic and conciliatory leadership of Ayman Odeh, who also tried to reach out to Jewish voters, the Joint List managed the unprecedented feat of becoming the third largest party in the Knesset.
With the ongoing Israelization of the occupied territories and international inaction, on the one hand, and growing Palestinian rights-based activism, on the other, the next Knesset could mark a turning point for the conflict in which the two-state option is abandoned in favor of a civil rights struggle for the foreseeable future.
In the wider region, Netanyahu's re-election is likely to spell "business as usual," short of some radical, unexpected upheaval. The Middle East is caught up in other crises, such as the civil war in Syria, the continued unravelling of Iraq, Arab-Iranian rivalry, the growing threat from the Islamic State (ISIS), as well as simple survival for most of the region's regimes.
In such a climate, Netanyahu offers Middle Eastern leaders a form of perceived stability, in the shape of the "devil you know." Arab leaders will occasionally condemn Israeli excesses and urge Netanyahu to respond to the Arab Peace Initiative, but inaction will be the norm.
However, the status quo is extremely volatile, and so "business as usual" could easily lead to more Israeli-Palestinian violence and war, as witnessed last summer, which could quite easily spiral out of control next time.
Israel's war against Hamas plays well in places like Egypt, where the once-allied Muslim Brotherhood has been demonized, persecuted, banned and declared a "terrorist organization." When it comes to Iran, Israeli, Saudi and Iranian hardliners, though for different reasons, find themselves bizarre and coincidental allies of convenience in their opposition to a possible nuclear deal.
Regionally, it is the Iran-Israel axis that is potentially the most volatile and unpredictable. Though both sides have thus far limited their animosity to the rhetorical sphere and proxy clashes, this contained confrontation carries the risk of spinning out of control.
It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that a new far-right government in Israel will seek to deflect internal opposition and dissent, as well as divert Western attention, by ratcheting up the public fear quotient of the "existential threat" posed by the Ayatollahs.
Likewise, in Iran, hardliners may try to derail the cautious and conciliatory path being pursued by Hassan Rouhani, and undermine his more moderate presidency, possibly by painting him as an appeaser of America and Israel.
This is likely to happen as elections to select a new Assembly of Experts and a new parliament in 2016 loom ever closer. With the ailing Ayotollah Ali Khamenei and his latest powerful conservative ally, the new leader of the Assembly of Experts Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, determined to block moderates, Rouhani's job is likely to get much tougher.
A deal on Iran's nuclear program would help to reduce this pressure by giving Rouhani a visible victory and enabling Iran's staggering economy to recover. However, this is opposed by Netanyahu and influential Republican hardliners in Washington.
It is my view that Iran can gain the upper hand and the moral high ground by abandoning its nuclear ambitions in favor of solar and other renewable energies. If the only reason Iran is carrying out nuclear research is truly to ensure its energy security and prepare for its post-oil future, then renewables are much more promising.
Nuclear power is not only dirty, dangerous and extremely expensive, investing in it will make Iran forever dependent on others, both for the supply of raw materials and for technology. With an abundant supply of sunshine, Iran can be self-sufficient in solar power. In addition, if it diverts the billions it is investing in nuclear energy to renewables, it can quickly become a regional leader in this extremely important and profitable emerging sector, and perhaps eventually even a global one.
But pride at backing down to Western pressure, paranoia, nuclear envy, and hardline pressure make this path improbable, at best.
For its part, to avoid the dangers of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, whether with Iran or an Arab country spurred to catch up, Israel should enter, along with its own nuclear arsenal, into earnest negotiations for a WMD-free region -- an offer that has been on the table for decades.
But pride, paranoia, existential angst and the fear of being seen to back down make this scenario too extremely unlikely.
Though "business as usual" is the path of least resistance on the Israeli-Arab and Israeli-Iranian axes, they are also risky enterprises as the old equilibriums shift.