Posted on 03/17/2015 1:21:35 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Voting in Israel's national election has ended, with exit polls showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a virtual tie with a center-left challenger.
Exit polls conducted by the country's three major TV stations late Tuesday gave mixed results, showing an extremely tight race between Netanyahu's Likud Party and opposition leader Isaac Herzog's Zionist Union.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
He is a former Likud member, but his emphasis is on social issues, and I would guess that he and his party would have preferred to form a government with the Labor-Meretz block.
Nevertheless, I don’t see how they can form a party with the Combined Arab List, and without the Arab parties it is impossible for the Left to get to 61 seats.
Incidentally, there is no reason besides racial identity politics, for the Arab voters to vote for the Combined Arab List instead of Likud, or even Labor. There is no anti-Arab plank in any of the parties’ platforms. Personally, I would love to see the Likud engage in outreach (without changing its positions) to the Arab citizens of Israel, but that is a separate issue.
That is right, and the Israeli media are seeing a Bibi coalition.
May it be so.
You said it! But whether they can actually out perform the will of God when it comes to Israel, we will soon see.
I realize however, that God’s ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts, so I do get that certainty and agree with the idea that He sets the leaders before us we so richly deserve. Yikes!
Yes, American media have no clue about this process.
Either way it comes out, there will be war. Either Bibi orders a preemptive strike, or a Mullah orders the 8th Imam to return.
Who is this guy? Any info on what he more likely join?
All that matters is our paper mache president can deal with. Like obama, they most probably found him under a rock.
A very reliable pollster on Hannity radio said on a scale of 1-10 he gives Hannity a 9 that Netanyahu won. It is party time!
Kahlon used to be a Knesset member in the Likud party (Netanyahu's party). He quit Likud to start a new party, Kulanu ("all of us"). He ran on a centrist platform, concentrating on domestic economic issues (chiefly, that the cost of living is going up too fast). The word is that he will join a coalition with whoever will make him the Finance Minister.
Got to give the Israel system some cred. A guy can break away like Sharon did in the past and this guy create a legitimate new party.
Just checked http://www.haaretz.com/, which had this headline:
“Likud, Zionist Union neck and neck; Rivlin calls for unity government
“Live Updates: Channel 10 and Channel 1 both gave Likud and Zionist Union 27 Knesset seats, while Channel 2’s exit poll gave 28 seats to Likud, and 27 to Zionist Union. Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein says final tally may not be published until Friday.”
I’m sure there’s some interesting back room wheeling and dealing going on to see who can come up with a coalition.
ABC news can barely understand the American government system. Expecting them to understand a parliamentary system would be way too much to ask.
“it’s not about which party has the most seats, but which COALITION of parties has the most seats.”
That is correct. I don’t think that a single party has ever won an outright majority under the Israeli system. It is all about the coalition.
Just as the polls closed, twitter posts were reporting celebration at Likud headquarters, for whatever that’s worth.
Exit polls. They’re going to stir up a Bush/Gore propaganda storm. “Netanyahu can’t have won. The exit polls said so!”
What can a gov't do? Is the Israeli Central Bank not trying to keep inflation under control? The #2 at the Fed Stanley Fischer was head of Israel's Central Bank.
I think that was Bush v Kerry.
But, yeah, the media was even claiming that the exit polls were right and the actual vote was wrong.
The world seems hellbent on giving evil a 50-50 chance these days.
Exactly right. He will have to partner with the religious parties, whom he doesn't like, and with the hard-right parties, who will limit his freedom of action, but he will get to 61.
Impostor Obama has taken US taxpayer money and
paid impostors to vote.
The EXEMPT House did not authorize it, but
EXEMPT Orange Man will protect his beloved King.
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