Dear Friend and Reader:
As a result of this week’s general elections in Israel,В Tzipi Livni of the center-right Qadima Party took aВ razor-thin lead over Binyamin Netanyahu’s neo-conservative Likud Party. However, the Knesset, Israel’s “Congress,” the body with which the next prime minister will form a new coalition government,В is now predominated byВ far right wingВ parties. Even with her slim lead, it appears Livni andВ her Qadima Party will not have enough Knesset support to assume power.
FromВ the USG Open Source News:
“According to Israeli law, the creation of a coalition government is granted to the head of the faction who has the greatest chance of forming a coalition — in other words, the one with the greatest chance of securing positive support from other factions. Given this fact, it is unclear from exit polls which party leader should be given this task. While Qadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni appears to have won the elections (securing 28 to 30 seats, according to various polls), Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu lags behind by only two mandates. More importantly, the exit polls show that right-wing parties will secure over 61 mandates — thus easily allowing for the potential creation of a right-wing coalition. Moreover, Livni has a troubled history with coalition construction. In October, after winning the Qadima primaries held pursuant to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s resignation, Livni tried and failed to set up a coalition government, leading to the call for early elections.”
I’ve been keeping a watchful eyeВ on the general elections in Israel,В В our staunchest ally andВ aВ keystone toВ American policy in the Middle East.В В The resultsВ of Israel’s general elections for prime ministerВ should give us pause, and will most likely rise to the top ofВ Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s priorities in the coming months and years.