Posted on 01/24/2013 8:05:47 AM PST by Dave346
After the last vote is counted, officials say Ahmad Tibi's party Raam-Taal drops from five seats to four, while Naftali Bennett's party gains one, Kadima party makes it over the threshold with two mandates.
The count of the "double envelope" votes came to a close on Thursday afternoon, with Bayit Yehudi finishing at 12 seats, Kadima crossing the threshold with two seats and the Raam-Taal party dropping from five to four seats, officials said.
The votes of 200,000 soldiers, plus those of prisoners and people in hospitals, were counted a day later than the regular vote.
These ballots are called “double envelope votes,” because many of the voters are listed in their army base or hospital, as well as in their home town, and it takes longer to count them, because the Central Elections Committee must check to make sure they did not vote twice.
In the final count, Likud won 31 Knesset seats, Yesh Atid 19, Labor 15, Bayit Yehudi 12, Shas 11, United Torah Judaism seven, Meretz and The Tzipi Livni Party six each, the three Arab parties a total of 11, and Kadima two. This gives the Right bloc 61 seats and the Center-Left bloc 59 in the next Knesset.
(Excerpt) Read more at jpost.com ...
I wonder, in Israel, if:
You have to show ID to vote
Black Panthers are allowed to “hang out” at polling stations with clubs and bats
The ballots are secured for any recounts (no finding a trunk load of ballots in a Chevy)
That if you are too stupid to fill out a ballot correctly, it will not count
That they take serious voter fraud
Congratulations Bibi. I’ll bet Obama is none too pleased right about now.
YES!!!!
God bless Netanyahu and may God bless Israel!
Compared to expectations a few weeks ago, Netanyahu lost. The peace promoting left also lost along with Netanyahu. The center won, a center that seems more concerned with domestic economic issues than making peace or war.
He won, but will he be able to govern and do what he wants to do since literally any defection by any party could bring his government down?
I’m sorry if this is a naive question to ask, but, where does this leave Moshe Feiglin?
Moshe Feiglin was #22 on the combined Likud-Beytenu list so he’s definitely in since they got 31 seats.
Likud will have 21 seats and Beytenu will have 10.
Moshe was #15 on the Likud list.
Netanyahu, according to Obama you have a ‘mandate’ now.
Go for it!
The headline says that the final vote was 61 for the Right bloc and 59 for the Center-Left, which only makes sense if Yesh Atid is categorized as part of the Center-Left. But the article then said that Yesh Atid was joining Likud’s ruling coalition, so a better headline would have been that the Right and Center-Right won 80 seats and the Left and Center-Left only 40.
There are actually 5 factions in Israel: Arab, Left, Centre-Left, Centre-Right, Religious Right. There has been a fundamental shift away from Labour and its leftist allies.
This kind of proportional voting would not work in the US where voting is done by congressional district, not a list, but I do like the option that is in place in New York State. In New York, a candidate can seek the nomination of more than one party. It’s not uncommon to have a Republican also on the ticket as a Conservative Party candidate and Right to LIfe Party candidate, while the Dem candidates are often also on the Liberal Party ticket. This way you can show your support for a particular element of the Republican coalition or, if the GOP nominates a liberal, you can vote for a different candidate entirely. It would be great if on a national scale you could register a vote for your Republican candidate by voting on the Tea Party ticket, or Right to Life, or Second Amendment, etc.. At least this way there would be no doubt that the Republican’s victory was the result of voters who felt strongly about these issues.
I like the idea of national proportional voting for the House of Representatives, state legislatures selecting senators, and district centered voting for local and state elections. I believe that our Congress should have a national perspective that is balanced by a State needs oreiented Senate and direct accountability for local and state lawmakers.
It would probably do wonders for the pork based spending. Plus, it would give the “fringe parties” a voice in the national government; at least in the House of Representatives.
It seems to me that they will have gridlock at least until the next election. I don’t know their politics but if is emulates ours at all, 61-59 seems pretty even on both sides.
What a novel concept.
Looks like you’re mostly correct, we’ll end up with a Religious Right/Secular Right
or Secular Right/Secular Center Right coalition that is either:
1. Going to pass a Universal Draft law and remove some subsidies to the Ultra-Orthodox
OR
2. Going to lower some subsidies to the Ultra-Orthodox and get pushed into a more conciliatory and expedited position in regards to a two state solution and removing a larger number of West Bank settlements.
This is a weak hand to play for foreign policy, only upside is Israel’s domestic economy is humming along with good growth, leaving slightly more wiggle room regarding the now immediate battle over social safety net subsidies battles.
External threats will see ‘Broad Coalition’ of the Religious Right/Secular Right/Secular Center Right with right around 80 votes in the Knesset, so looks like Israel is looking at 4 years of inward facing politicking.
If only Israeli politics were that simple. Bibi screwed himself, and Yesh Atid won. Now Bibi’ll have to include these left wingnut retards in the government, or face an opposition with some punch, and Shas will probably be in the opposition. Will Bayit Yehudi be, too? If so, he’ll still face an opposition with some punch, and dissent within Likud from the Feiglin camp. Thanks for all the back-biting, Bibi. Hope you enjoy the no-confidence vote that’ll force another election.
Parenthetically, if only Bayit Yehudi had gotten one more seat, our good friends’ son Hillel Horowitz would be set for life, as all MKs are. Thanks all you Otzma voters.
...only upside is Israel’s domestic economy is humming along with good growth...
Don’t worry. Yesh Atid (Translation: There is a Future [to wreck]) will put paid to that.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Rather than focusing on the "61-59", multiple parties forced into a nonexistant two party mould, probably better to wait on the coalition Bibi puts together, which I predict won't be 61-59. Different system.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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Rather than focusing on the "61-59", multiple parties forced into a nonexistant two party mould, probably better to wait on the coalition Bibi puts together, which I predict won't be 61-59. Different system.
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