ISRAELI ELECTION CLOSE RACE

Pres. Peres Meeting with Party Leaders JAN 23,13 Israelnationalnews

President Shimon Peres summoned the heads of the factions elected to the Knesset to hear their opinion on the appropriate candidate to form a new government.

Four weeks will be given to the selected candidate to form a new government. Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, as the head of the party that received the most amount of votes has the most leverage.

Vote Shift: Right, Left Evenly Matched with 60 Seats Each

With 99 percent of the vote counted it seems Kadima will enter Knesset, leaving right- and left-wing blocs even, if Arab parties join left.

By Maayana Miskin and Chana Ya'ar First Publish: 1/23/2013, 8:00 AM-Israelnationalnews

Counting votes (archive)-Israel news photo: Flash 90

With 99 percent of the votes counted, it seems that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu may have a hard time creating the next coalition. Despite Netanyahu’s significant lead over rival parties, the right-wing and left-wing blocs are now evenly matched with 60 seats each.Netanyahu’s Likud, which ran together with Yisrael Beytenu, took 31 seats. In second place is Yesh Atid with 19 seats, followed by Labor with 17.
Shas and Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) won 11 seats each. Yahadut HaTorah (Gimmel) got 7 seats, an increase over its current six.Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua party got 6 seats, the Jewish-Arab Hadash party took 4 4, Meretz appears to have 6, the other Arab parties together earned 7, and Kadima appears to have passed the voting threshold with just 2 seats. Otzma L'Yisrael (Strong Israel, led by MK Michael Ben Ari) may not have made it into the Knesset.While the numbers do not quite add up, as the final calculations have not been completed, the final breakdown will apparently leave current coalition members Likud, Bayit Yehudi and the hareidi-religious parties Shas and Yahadut HaTorah with a total of 60 seats, and Yesh Atid, Labor, Hatenua, Meretz, Kadima and the Arab parties with a total of 60 seats.Netanyahu may be able to include Yesh Atid in his coalition.Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid, a longtime popular TV anchor until exactly one year ago, and son of the former far-left secular Shinui party head Tommy Lapid, defines his party as centrist rather than left-wing, and has not ruled out the possibility of joining a Likud-led coalition.However, the party’s strong stance in favor of mandatory IDF recruitment for hareidi-religious yeshiva students may make it difficult for Netanyahu to include both Lapid’s party and the hareidi-religious parties in a coalition. The dilemma will undoubtedly raise the necessity of negotiations for a compromise -- at best -- over the critical and delicate issue.

MK: Likud’s Attack Ads Killed Right-Wing Majority

Likud’s attacks on the Bayit Yehudi party drove young voters to the centrist Yesh Atid, says MK Uri Orbach.

By Maayana Miskin First Publish: 1/23/2013, 12:41 PM-Israelnationalnews

MK Uri Orbach-Flash 90

Likud’s own advertising cost it a right-wing majority in Knesset, MK Uri Orbach (Bayit Yehudi) claimed Wednesday.Likud focused on attacking the Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party in recent weeks, primarily by portraying its candidates as extremists. According to Orbach, the ads convinced many young voters not to vote for Bayit Yehudi – but instead of choosing Likud Beytenu, they turned left and voted for another new party, the Yesh Atid party led by Yair Lapid.Lapid’s party was the surprise of the elections, winning 19 seats in place of the 11-12 that it had been predicted to receive.Yesh Atid describes itself as centrist, and may be willing to join a coalition led by Netanyahu. However, with its unexpected size, the party may also have the option of aligning with the left and blocking a second consecutive term for Netanyahu, although its chances of forming a government are not realistic.Orbach blamed the Otzma L'Yisrael party, as well, for the failure of the right wing and hareidi-religious parties to earn a majority of Knesset seats. The party, led by MK Michael Ben Ari and Dr. Aryeh Eldad, formerly of Ichud Leumi, failed to pass the threshold to enter Knesset and the roughly 60,000 votes it earned did not go toward more Knesset seats for the political right.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu seemed unconcerned Wednesday by reports showing the right and left-wing blocs evenly matched with 60 seats each. In a statement he thanked Israelis for turning out to vote Tuesday. The left-wing bloc includes the Arab parties and since they have never been coalition partners, is not a relevant comparison.“The results clearly show that Israel’s citizens want me to continue as Prime Minister,” he declared, “and want me to put together as broad-based a coalition as possible.” The new makeup of the Knesset provides an opportunity for “many changes,” he added.Netanyahu’s apparent calm may indicate confidence that the Yesh Atid party will agree to join him in a coalition despite its inclusion in the left wing bloc in various media reports. Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid has previously indicated that he is willing to join any government that will agree to his party’s major platform points, including IDF enlistment for hareidi-religious yeshiva students.

Pessimism in PA Follows Israel’s 2013 Elections

Pessimism in the Palestinian Authority about the prospects for peace with Israel follow its national elections the “morning after.”

By Chana Ya'ar First Publish: 1/23/2013, 3:11 PM-Israelnationalnews

PLO official Hanan Ashrawi-Flash 90

Pessimism in the Palestinian Authority about the prospects for peace with Israel has followed the country’s national elections on the “morning after.”
“I don’t see a peace coalition or a peace camp emerging now and revitalizing itself,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee.Going into the elections, Ashrawi had told the Saudi Okaz newspaper, “elections in Israel will bring about an even more extreme right-wing government that will seek to destroy the possibility of peace, not only in the Israel-Palestinian arena, but in the entire region.”Ashrawi followed up with reporters again at a news briefing in Ramallah on Wednesday, the day after 66.6 percent of Israelis cast their ballots in what at first appeared to be a near-even split between the right and left-wing camps.With 99 percent of the votes counted, the left and right were only really even if one included the Israeli Arab parties among the leftist bloc. Such parties include Knesset members such as Ahmed Tibi, Haneen Zouabi,  and Jamal Zahalka, all of whom have bluntly advocated the elimination of the “enemy” State of Israel, and expressed their hope for the Palestinian Authority, as “Palestine,” to rise in its place.
A right-wing coalition is still likely to be put together by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who like other faction leaders is actively engaged in trying to form a winning combination. But it is probable Netanyahu will have to moderate his coalition and create a more centrist government, this time around. The reason: a dramatic drop in mandates for the Likud-Beytenu list and the rise to second place of centrist former TV news anchor Yair Lapid’s “Yesh Atid” (There is a Future) party.Lapid campaigned on a platform that highlighted what he called the “equal share of the burden, the cost of living and housing.” He adamantly maintained to reporters that his primary responsibility was to “raise the issue of the middle class.”The leftist Labor party, led by another former journalist, Shelley Yechimovich, is in third place, having won 15 mandates. She is followed by two right-wing parties tied with 11 seats each - hareidi-religious Sephardic Shas party, and Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) led by another newcomer, former IDF special ops officer Naftali Bennett.The Bayit Yehudi leader also referred to taking care of the “equal share of the burden” in his post-election remarks on Wednesday, saying “the public went for something new. Both Yair Lapid and we are new. The public is now waiting to see the results. Our commitment is to restore the economy and take care of the equal share of the burden.” Leftist Tzipi Livni’s “HaTnuah” party won 6 votes, as did the far-left Meretz party. The United Arab List-Ta’al party won 5 seats, and Balad won 3. The Arab-Jewish “Hadash” (New) party won 4 seats, and the once-powerful Kadima party, founded by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, squeaked in with a bare 2 seats.

250,000 ‘Wasted’ Votes in 2013 Elections

Nearly a quarter of a million voters chose parties that did not make it into the Knesset this time around.

By Chana Ya'ar First Publish: 1/23/2013, 11:52 AM-Israelnationalnews

Elections 2013-Israel news photo: Ben Bresky

Nearly a quarter of a million voters chose parties that did not make it into the Knesset this time around.
The ‘Otzma L’Yisrael’ party (Strong Israel) came closest to reaching its goal, but failed to pass the 2 percent threshold needed to enter the parliament. The party, led by MK Michael Ben Ari, earned 61,825 votes, and lacked the 15,000 more needed to break the barrier.The ‘Am Shalem’ party was next, with 42,095 mandates, also lacking enough to enter the Knesset.Both were followed by several other, smaller new parties, all of which made poor showings and had no chance of entering.
Among them were Rabbi Amnon Yitzchak’s ‘Koach L’Hashpiah’ (Power to Influence)  party, with 26,744 votes; ‘Eretz Hadasha’ (New Land) with 26,331 votes; and the ‘Calcala’ (Economy) party, which won only 1,881 votes despite publicity for its controversial ads and use of celebrities. The final votes from Tuesday’s national election will be counted beginning today (Wednesday) in the evening. When the tally is completed, the threshold for entering the Knesset is expected to be set at 76,100, according to the Central Elections Committee.
At present, the threshold is being set at two percent of the total number of votes, which are still being tallied due to the submission from polls among IDF soldiers in the field.

Meretz Urges the Left to Block Netanyahu Coalition

‘Don’t throw Bibi a lifeline,’ urges far-left Meretz chairwoman.

By Maayana Miskin First Publish: 1/23/2013, 10:10 AM-Israelnationalnews

MKs Horowitz, Galon and Gilon-Flash 90

As results from the elections become clearer, hope is growing on the far left that the left wing will be able to block Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu by preventing him from forming a new coalition. Without support from parties that  can form a bloc with a total of over 60 seats, Netanyahu will not be named the next prime minister.Zahava Galon, chairwoman of the far-left Meretz faction, met Tuesday night with Yair Lapid, Shelly Yechimovich and Tzipi Livni, the heads of Yesh Atid, Labor and Hatnua respectively. “Don’t throw Bibi Netanyahu a lifeline,” she urged them.Galon had previously urged Yesh Atid and the left to stand with Arab parties to thwart Netanyahu. “We have the opportunity to create a bloc – center, left, and Arabs,” she declared Tuesday night.“The time has come,” she continued. “This could be an historic opportunity to replace the extreme-right regime that has trampled democracy.” She called on her fellow party heads on the left to “create a bloc to block the extremist Bibi, in order to preserve democracy and restore sanity to Israel.”Galon’s proposed 60-seat bloc would have to include both Yesh Atid and the Arab parties Balad and Ra’am Ta’al, a prospect that seems unlikely given Yesh Atid’s centrist stance on defense and diplomacy and Balad and Ra’am Ta’al’s extremism, which has included support for terrorists.Labor head Shelly Yechimovich has also expressed hope that the left will be able to block Netanyahu. Her proposal includes seeking support from the hareidi-religious factions Shas and Yahadut HaTorah (Gimmel) rather than Balad or Ra’am Ta’al.Both plans rely on Yesh Atid to prefer toppling Netanyahu to joining his government as the second most powerful party.