Feb 6 2007
Israel's 2006 elections were outstanding in two ways.- Only 63 percent of Israelis voted, which is the lowest voter turnout in Israeli history.
- The vote results split the 120 Knesset seats between 12 different political parties, making this one of the most divisive elections in Israeli history.
Each voter cast one vote for the political party of their choice. Knesset seats were then allocated according to the percentage of the vote gained by each party. And the leader of the party that won the most votes becomes Prime Minister.
Democratic Government
Kadima (Forward in English), a new centrist party founded by Ariel Sharon, won most votes and will form the next government of Israel.
Ehud Olmert, Kadima leader and new Israeli Prime Minister, will have to negotiate with the other parties to form a coalition of more than 60 of the 120 Knesset seats. Given the split vote, Olmert may be challenged to form and maintain a stable voting coalition.
2006 Election Results:
- Kadima: 29 seats
- Labor: 19 seats
- Likud: 12 seats
- Shas: 12 seats
- Israel Our Home: 11 seats
- National Union–NRP: 9 seats
- Pensioners' party: 7 seats
- United Torah Judaism: 6 seats
- Meretz: 5 seats
- Ra'am-Ta'al: 4 seats
- Balad: 3 seats
- Hadash: 3 seats
Olmert will need a strong coalition in order take the bold moves necessary to fulfill his campaign promises.
In remarks addressed to the Palestinians, Olmert said: "We are ready to compromise, to give up parts of the beloved Land of Israel and evacuate - under great pain - Jews living there, in order to create the conditions that will enable you to fulfil your dream and live alongside us. If the Palestinians are wise enough to act, then in the near future we will sit together at the negotiating table to create a new reality. If they do not, Israel will take its destiny in hand."
Peace in Israel
While many coalition combinations are possible, I predict that Olmert will form a left-centrist coaltion of 73 seats consisting of Kadima's 29 seats, Labor's 19 seats, Shas' 12 seats, United Torah Judaism's 6 seats and the Pensioners' 7 seats. In such a coalition, the Labor party will have the power to topple the government by withdrawing from the coaltion any time it is not getting what it wants or Olmert is making a move with which it disagrees. Perhaps Israel's next elections are just around the corner.
