A very important election on Tuesday 2/10/09: Israel votes for a Prime Minister

[Brooke]

The State of Israel votes for a Prime Minister. Right now Likud leads Kadima by 2 seats but Livni could eek out a win among undecided voters between now and Tuesday.

This will determine the course of the peace process and conflict in the region. And it's been looking for the past year like right wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu is going to be in power again. I know what to expect on Tuesday but I'm hoping and praying he loses by some miracle. Because it will undoubtadly become very difficult for the Obama administration to do much in the way of the peace process since it flies in the face of what Netanyahu wants to do which is destroy the peace process.

His first tenure as PM was disasterous. I have no reason to believe this one will be any different.

Keep your eyes on the news on Tuesday and hope Bibi loses. Israel doesn't need him.

[Brooke]

I'm bumping this.

[foxyladi]

peace..

[me123]

Doesn't matter who the PM of Israel is. While Hamas is the elected government in Gaza there will never be peace. The Arabs had a choice -- Fatah (peace) or Hamas (war) -- they voted for war.

[Brooke]

Doesn't matter who the PM of Israel is. While Hamas is the elected government in Gaza there will never be peace. The Arabs had a choice -- Fatah (peace) or Hamas (war) -- they voted for war.

Wow, and I thought I'd read some ignorant posts on here as it is. First of all, they're Palestinians. Secondly, they did vote in Fatah and Hamas so your argument makes no sense.

[CGP]

It has begun.

[joeysky18]

I'm bumping this.

I hope Livni will get it. High turnout expected.

Voting in Israel's general election has been slightly higher than the record low turnout of 2006, despite poor weather and fears of voter apathy.

At 2000 (1800 GMT), officials said nearly 60% of Israelis had voted - with two hours left before polls closed.

Results are expected to be close in the snap poll called by PM Ehud Olmert, who withdrew amid corruption allegations.

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud is the front runner, with Tzipi Livni of the governing Kadima party.

Right-winger Mr Netanyahu had enjoyed an opinion-poll lead over Ms Livni of the centrist Kadima, but in recent weeks it has been reduced.

After Mr Olmert announced last year he was stepping down, Ms Livni attempted to form a new government without elections but failed.

Kadima had led the latest unsuccessful round of peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and has vowed to continue. Likud is opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state which is the goal of the talks.

Analysts say the final turnout will almost certainly pass the record low figure of 2006, which was 63.5%, but is unlikely to be higher than previous Israeli elections.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7880275.stm

[joeysky18]

Exit polls showed narrow win for Livni. But forming the coalition will be tricky. It's not over yet.

Israel was bracing itself for a stunning political upset on Tuesday night after exit polls suggested Tzipi Livni had scored a narrow victory over her rightwing rival in the race to become the country’s next prime minister.

Three exit polls, released by Israeli television channels after voting closed, showed Ms Livni’s centrist Kadima party would win two more parliamentary seats than the Likud party under its leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. The predictions sparked scenes of jubilation at Kadima’s election headquarters in Tel Aviv, where flag-waving supporters could be seen dancing and cheering as the news sank in.


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/16d9645c-f75a-11dd-81f7-000077b07658.html

[Brooke]

Livni gets it..barely. She managed to snatch out a victory against Netanyahu. But now comes the hard part, because no party got a majority of Knesset votes, Israel's President, Shimon Peres has to pick the person best fit to put together a coalition. Since a good part of the right wing parties got a lot of votes, he might pick Netanyahu. But I cannot seeing him giving Bibi the premiership, so he might give it to Livni and she'd have to put Bibi, Barak, Lieberman, etc, in her govt anyway.

But this is a loss for Bibi. After all that time, he led for the longest time. In the end, Israelis didn't want to go back to more of the same and voted for change. :D

Labor did horribly. This party just hasn't been able to get it's crap together.

Thanks to the mods for changing the title.

[joeysky18]

I would like it better if Livni won by a larger margin.


BBC said Avigdor Lieberman will be a kingmaker, and Netanyahu claimed victory, saying a Likud-led government will lead Israel.


Analysts say Avigdor Lieberman, leader of Yisrael Beitenu, could be a key figure in deciding the next government.

"Lieberman has emerged as the kingmaker," said Menachem Hofnung, a professor of political science at Hebrew University.

"He is the winner of these elections and it depends on who he sides with over the next few weeks as to who will be prime minister."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7882406.stm

[Brooke]

Bibi can claim he's king of the world all he wants. He still lost..lol.

This would be such great news for the Obama administration, especially Hillary.

[joeysky18]

Bibi can claim he's king of the world all he wants. He still lost..lol.

This would be such great news for the Obama administration, especially Hillary.

Yeah. It's good for the peace process.

[eyedoc333]

I am cautiously optimistic.

[Brooke]

Okay, here's what happens now:

Since neither Bibi or Livni got the majority of votes, the President of Israel has to determine which candidate is better suited to put together a coalition. That person is Shimon Peres, who lost to Bibi in a heartbreaker in 1996, and who has dedicated his political career to destroying the Oslo process.

So he's in a tough spot.

Shimon's also got this friend in the US he's pretty close with. He actually taught him to write his name in Hebrew a bunch of years back. This friend came out and publicly endorsed him in 1996 when he shouldn't have gotten involved. This friend of his is married to someone whose directly affected by the decision Shimon has to make. That friend's name: William Jefferson Clinton.;)

[CGP]

Netanyahu, Livni declare win in Israeli election (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090211/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_election)

[SKR01]

Yeah. It's good for the peace process.

Please read the Hamas Charter at http://www.acpr.org.il/resources/hamascharter.html or at any other link you prefer. This one does not make comments one way or the other as to the charter's contents, which is why I include it.

Hamas does not believe in or accept the idea of peace under any circumstance other than when everyone submits to Allah or is killed for Allah. Any halt in fighting is merely to regroup. Every Jew is to be killed, as is everyone who does not accept Allah. Do not make the mistake of confusing Hamas with other Muslim sects; jihad is their life. The militaristic branch kills outright through rockets, sniping and suicide bombers; the non-militaristic branch takes care of their subjects and provides cover for the jihadists through propaganda.

It's more than disgusting that peaceful Muslims are tarred by the same brush as Hamas; when they don't agree with Hamas, they are viewed as infidel by their Muslim brethren and are difficult to be trusted by non-Muslims.

[ImmaSlave4U]

With 99.7% of votes counted, Livni leads with 28 seats in parliament, Netanyahu close behind with 27

http://www.foxnews.com/images/502961/9_23_b450.jpg

[Brooke]

Please read the Hamas Charter at http://www.acpr.org.il/resources/hamascharter.html or at any other link you prefer. This one does not make comments one way or the other as to the charter's contents, which is why I include it.

Hamas does not believe in or accept the idea of peace under any circumstance other than when everyone submits to Allah or is killed for Allah. Any halt in fighting is merely to regroup. Every Jew is to be killed, as is everyone who does not accept Allah. Do not make the mistake of confusing Hamas with other Muslim sects; jihad is their life. The militaristic branch kills outright through rockets, sniping and suicide bombers; the non-militaristic branch takes care of their subjects and provides cover for the jihadists through propaganda.

It's more than disgusting that peaceful Muslims are tarred by the same brush as Hamas; when they don't agree with Hamas, they are viewed as infidel by their Muslim brethren and are difficult to be trusted by non-Muslims.

I think you misunderstood the context of Joey's comment. It was in response to me saying that a Livni victory would be better if for nothing else, she'd get along better with the US than Netanyahu has. Israel has been led by a right wing govt essentially for this entire past decade. And what has that gotten them? A war in Lebanon they lost, a worsening economy, a frustrated public, and a war with Hamas that so far, they haven't been able to succeed in. Too many people are under the delusion that by simply electing Netanyahyu and a far right coalition that Israel will be more secure and safe. Well guess what? They've had this with Likud and Kadima for 10 years and nothing has changed. I posed this on a Likud facebook page yesterday and nobody bothered to even answer my question, because they know I'm right. Benjamin Netanyahu was by far, one of the most disasterous PMs Israel has ever had. He talks a big talk about security and protecting Israel, but he caves to US and International pressure. Not only that, but he became the first Israeli PM in history to be snubbed by a US President. US-Israeli relations were at their worst in decades under his tenure. Anyone in Israel who thinks this time around, things will be different, is completely delusional. The problem is that Israel hasn't had a real LEADER since Rabin. I would say Sharon was (even if I'm not a fan), but he had a stroke and left office too.

The only real shot at a change is Livni, and that's why she did so well yesterday.

And I LOVE that picture, by the way, I'm putting it on my background.