Unable to vote, Palestinians shrug off Israel's elections

MAS'HA, West Bank (AP) — Barhoum Saleh's town is surrounded by Jewish settlements, the sign above his roadside mechanic shop is in Hebrew, most of his customers are Israeli and he needs an Israeli permit to visit the beach a half hour's drive away. Saleh is among the 2.5 million Palestinians in the West Bank who have no voice in choosing Israel's next government and no control over whether it decides to annex part or all of the occupied territory, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to do . With the peace process having sputtered to a halt a decade ago, they also have little hope of getting a state of their own anytime soon.