[Sabramerican]

This is not an election, it's a national competency test.

If Kadima wins, the US should convert all aid into straight jackets for the voters.

[anotherview]

You and Ms. Glick are the insane ones. Polls show Prime Minsiter Olmert and Kadima will do about as well, maybe better, than Prime Minister Sharon did in the last election. Likud is competing for third place.

Also, Kadima is not the left. I realize people who only see things in black and white have a major problem with grey, but Kadima is the center.

Iraeli politics:

Far left: Meretz, Ale Yarok, Arab parties
Left: Labour
Center: Kadima, Shinui
Right: Likud, Yisrael Beitenu, NRP/National Union
Religious: Shas, Yehudat haTorah (United Torah Judaism)

Of course, if you are on the right fringe the center looks like the left from there.

[Honestfreedom]

Caroline and the rest of the right need to consider that the Israelis are getting what they ask for. They have elected Begin, Shamir and Nethanyahu in the past. Perhaps now they just favor appeasing terrorists, avoiding tough issues and having the government and the Americans take care of them. They are not fools they know what the candidates will do. Kadima has allowed Hamas and Al Queda free reign in Gaza, have brutally beaten people in Amona with little provocation and have been extremely vague about what they will do. The people know this and are voting for them anyway. It can't all be explained by media bias.

[Savage Beast]

"media stars as they obsess over our politicians' relative likeability and body language"

Sounds like the American "media stars".

Remember how gaga they were over arissstocratic (in fact, parvenu) John Kennedy? How weak in the knees they got over the oh-so-charismatic Bill Clinton? How they flipped over the sophissstocated John Kerry who just accidentally fell in love with two megarich heiresses?

Is a prerequisite that news reporters be brainless and live in a fantasy world?

[Cicero]

It's a depressing situation. It used to be that even the Israeli leftists could more or less be counted on to defend Israel. Now, I don't know.

I've never seen it this bad.

[goldstategop]

There is no genuine anti-Oslo party for Israelis to vote next week. All there is is the lesser of two evils and Kadima will win for that reason. Labor normally would stand a chance but Amir Peretz would destroy Israel with misguided socialist policies long before Oslo did the country in. So that's why it will not win for the third successive election since 2001. The Likud's Netanyahu has no credibility on national security since he himself met and negotiated with Arafat as Prime Minister and handed Hebron and one third of Judea and Samaria over to the PLO at Wye. There's little to believe he would act differently in office. Israel's media is a captive of the Far Left. You wonder if its leaders are up to the job of confronting the Hamastan their own policies helped to install in power. We'll see after the elections.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[Stepan12]

This is not an election, it's a national competency test. If Kadima wins, the US should convert all aid into straight jackets for the voters.

Maybe the polls are wrong. They could be representing wishful thinking by Israel's leftist and destructive media.