99% of the ballots in: A clear majority for the right wing under the Netanyahu's leadership. Netanyahu: "the people have spoken I'll lead the next government". Right wing block has a 65 to 55 majority in Knesset. Tuesday, February 10, 2009 Netanyahu claimed victory late Tuesday night after all TV stations exit polls project a clear majority to the right wing block of 65 seats to 55 for the left. Netanyahu addressed his supporters in Tel Aviv saying: "God willing I'll be the next Prime Minister. I'm sure I will be able to form a wide and stable coalition government that will know how to cope with the crisis and promote reforms in the education" Netanyahu has detailed his next political moves:" I'll start by turning to our partners of the right wing; we've already set up meetings for tomorrow. Then I'll seek out the rest of the Zionist parties (meaning Labor and Kadima) in order to unify all of forces of the people." Netanyahu also responded to Kadima's claims that they won the elections "There is no doubting the conclusion that the right wing under the Likud has won a decisive victory… the question is not what the polls said, but what the reality states, in the going out Knesset the right wing had only 50 seats and today it has a majority, in the last elections the people voted us into the opposition, and in these elections we increased our votes more than any other party". After counting 99% of the ballots the results are as follows: Right wing parties: Likud 27 Yisrael Beiteno 15 Shas 11 Yahadut Hatorah 5 Ihud Leumi 4 Bait Hayehudi 3 Total: 65 seats Left wing: Kadima 28 Labor 13 Meretz 3 Arabs parties 11 Total: 55 seats A bit about the coalition forming process: Although 99% of the ballots have been counted there is still need to count the absentee ballots so official results will only be certified on Friday. After that the justice in charge of the elections committee will deliver the results to Israel's ceremonial president, Shimon Peres. He will have to decide on a Knesset member to form the government. The President does not have sole discretion about the selection, his political views should not be a part of the process which should be bipartisan (Peres is from the Kadima and Labor parties). According to the tradition the President is supposed to select the Knesset Member who has the greatest chance of forming a coalition that will have the Knesset's confidence. That's why before the President makes his selection he seeks to consult the Knesset parties who let him know which candidate they prefer. After the selection the Knesset Member gets a standard time in which he/she negotiates with the parties to form a coalition. If the Knesset Member is unsuccessful then the President can select a new candidate. It is unheard of that the President would go against the wishes of the majority of the Knesset (if there is one) on the first try to form the government. Due to the elections results it is highly unlikely that Kadima's Leader, Tsipi Livni, will be selected by the President despite the fact that her party is the biggest in the Knesset. Her chances to form a government are extremely slim unless there are wide defections from the right wing block. That's why despite Kadima's cheerful attitude about their party being the largest, Netanyahu and the Likud are the clear winners in the elections. |
The Case Agianst Israel's Enemies by Alan Dershowitz 
Coming from England and particularly from the BBC, MUST BE SEEN VIDEO! ANOTHER MUST SEE VIDEO |