Watch part two

"We are all going to pull up our sleeves and get to work ... to deal urgently with the security and economic challenges facing Israel." With those words, Benyamin Netanyahu, the new Israeli prime minister, presided over his first cabinet meeting.
 
It could be described as a new era under the right-wing Netanyahu and his ultra right-wing foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman.

But inevitably, the same issues top the agenda - peace and security. And, this means addressing the Palestinian issue. 

Netanyahu said his new cabinet would soon produce a peace and security plan, but he gave no clear indication of how he will approach any peace negotiations with the Palestinians.  
 
Concerns have been raised about a too-strong 'right' in Israel, and Palestinians fear that their long-awaited statehood is now even further away.
 
Palestinians, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in particular, have made it very clear that they are unhappy with what they call Netanyahu's "vague commitment" to the peace process. Their concerns have been heightened by Lieberman's claim that he does not feel bound by the US-sponsored Annapolis peace process.

Inside Story discusses the new Israeli government's first cabinet meeting, the long-term effects on the wider region and the future of Israel's potential peace partner. 
 
What if the Palestinian Authority dissolved itself? How will the new Israeli government affect the peace process? Are the PA's days numbered? Or is there life left in the tattered road map to peace?

Presenter Kamahl Santamaria is joined by Abdul Sattar Qassem, a professor of political science in Najah University, Gerald Steinberg, the head of the department of political science in Bar Ilan University in Jerusalem, and Hassan Issa, a former director of the Israel department at the Egyptian foreign ministry.

This episode of Inside Story aired from Sunday, April 5, 2009.