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  • Israel elections

    With high voter turnout, exit polls predict that Binjamin Netanyahu's Likud/Yisraeli Beitenu bloc will win the Israeli election. However, they have sustained a heavy loss in parliament and the Likud bloc will no longer control a majority of parliamentary seats. The biggest election winner appears to be the centrist Yesh Atid (There Is A Future) party of Yair Lapid. The results constitute a stunning electoral defeat for Mr. Netanyahu, who will now be forced to accommodate moderates in order to form a new government. Exit polls suggest that most Israelis voted primarily on a basis of economic and social issues.
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  • #2
    Stunning setback for Netanyahu as Israel election ends in deadlock
    By Amy Teibel
    January 22, 2013

    JERUSALEM - Israel's parliamentary election ended Wednesday in a stunning deadlock between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line bloc and centre-left rivals, forcing the badly weakened leader to scramble to cobble together a coalition of parties from both camps, despite dramatically different views on Mideast peacemaking and other polarizing issues. Israeli media said that with 99.8 per cent of votes counted, each bloc had 60 of parliament's 120 seats.

    A startlingly strong showing by a political newcomer, the centrist Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party, turned pre-election forecasts on their heads and dealt Netanyahu his surprise setback in Tuesday's vote. Yesh Atid's leader, Yair Lapid, has said he would only join a government committed to sweeping economic changes and a serious push to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, which have languished throughout Netanyahu's four-year tenure. Lapid said he would not be a "fig leaf" for a hard-line agenda on peacemaking. A leading party member, Yaakov Peri, said Yesh Atid it would not join unless the government pledges to begin drafting the ultra-Orthodox into the military, lowers the country's high cost of living and returns to peace talks. That stance could force Netanyahu to make overtures — perhaps far more sweeping than he imagined — to get negotiations moving again.
    Source: VancouverSun
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    • #3
      And yet just a couple of days ago the MSM was predicting Israel as a whole was moving further to the right. Hoorah!
      In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

      Leibniz

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      • #4
        "...A startlingly strong showing by a political newcomer, the centrist Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party, turned pre-election forecasts on their heads and dealt Netanyahu his surprise setback in Tuesday's vote..."

        My suspicion is that a geographically small nation with an equally small voting populace can experience electoral dynamics leading to surprise outcomes not possible in larger political venues. I'm sure the absence of statistical inputs coupled with rapidity of information sharing has much to do with it. Still, it's good that forecasting becomes a far more tenuous venture.
        "This aggression will not stand, man!" Jeff Lebowski
        "The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you're uncool." Lester Bangs

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        • #5
          Originally posted by S2 View Post
          My suspicion is that a geographically small nation with an equally small voting populace can experience electoral dynamics leading to surprise outcomes not possible in larger political venues. I'm sure the absence of statistical inputs coupled with rapidity of information sharing has much to do with it. Still, it's good that forecasting becomes a far more tenuous venture.
          Netanyahu will attempt to form a government. That could take weeks. Mr. Lapid will probably get either the Foreign Affairs or the Finance ministry and be in the security cabinet. I foresee this right/left coalition lasting no more than six months before new elections are called. After viewing two US elections up close now, I very much prefer the American electoral process. Voting on a 'list' basis is archaic and cumbersome.
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          • #6
            what is the centre-left/moderate side of Israeli politics?

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            • #7
              Originally posted by kuku View Post
              what is the centre-left/moderate side of Israeli politics?
              The left contains parties that are socialist in nature. The centre is neither left nor right, such as the environmentalist Green party.
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              • #8
                They differ both in their economic policies, with the left-wing parties such as Meretz and Labor advocating anything from socio-democracy to full blown socialism, and the right-wing parties such as Likud advocating capitalism and leaving the market alone as much as possible.

                They also differ with regards to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On the extreme left you have the Arab parties and Meretz which would like nothing more than for all Jews to get up and leave Israeli permanently. The left is those like Labor and The Movement that want to make a deal at almost all costs, but aren't as fanatic. Towards the center-left you have There is A Future, who want to make a deal and are willing to give concessions, but are also realistic. On the right you have parties like Likud and The Jewish Home that also claim to want to make a deal, but are much more hawkish than the center left, and on the far right you have the "let's kill them all" crowd, such as "Power to Israel" which thankfully didn't even get one seat in these elections.
                Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

                Abusing Yellow is meant to be a labor of love, not something you sell to the highest bidder.

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