[Moonchild]

The Likud Party, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, emerged as the winner in Tuesday's parliamentary elections, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The final results, as reported by Haaretz, showed Likud won 30 seats while the Zionist Union came in second with 24 seats.

Per the Jerusalem Post:

The parties that follow are Joint Arab List (14); Yesh Atid (11); Kulanu (10); Bayit Yehudi (8); Shas (7); United Torah Judaism (6); Yisrael Beytenu (6); and Meretz (4).

Eli Yishai's far-right Yahad party has thus far failed to make the cut, though it has hovered near the minimum threshold throughout.

Isaac Herzog, Israel's opposition leader, contacted Netanyahu on Wednesday to concede, Reuters reported.

The results were a surprise due to the fact that pre-election polls published on Friday showed the Zionist Union in the lead. This prompted Netanyahu to promise that if he remained in power, no Palestinian state would be established, The Associated Press reported. He also railed against Israeli Arabs, The New York Times noted, for having the temerity to vote.

Netanyahu served as prime minister for three years in the 1990s and returned to office in 2009. A fourth term would make him Israel's longest serving leader, Reuters reported. He took to Twitter to declare victory.

"Against all odds: a great victory for Likud, a great victory for the national camp led by Likud, a great victory for the people of Israel," Netanyahu wrote.

Darth Bibi has done it again, this is a dark day for Israel.

The same people who most depend on public services (Housing, healthcare ... ) vote for the man who has done nothing but to make those unavailable.

Also, a huge boost to 'Boycott Israel' movements. Now that the gloves are off, and Bibi officially left no doubt that he's not interested in any agreement with the Palestinians (not that there was any before that), real sanctions are to follow, and instead of returning 'some' settlements, everything beyond the 67' lines will be returned.

[Soulflytribe]

The best pro-Netaniahu argument is too see all the anti-semits in the world pulling their hair out and crying compulsively because of his victory. If your ilk are unhappy, then we must assume that Israel has made the right choice!

[Moonchild]

Seriously?

I'm an Israeli citizen who suffers most from this terrible man. Putting the Israel-Palestinian conflict aside, under his watch, in every category you can think of he has done nothing, and when he did, it was only to ensure his survival.

Yesterday afternoon, he has gone as far as call thousands with a recorded message that the Palestinians are coming in busses from Jordan and the WB to vote for a leftist government, and that they must all recruit to save Israel.
Many idiots I know of immediately changed their minds because of that.

P.S.
Your gloating and calling me Anti-Semite is uncalled for, I'm the one who may pay the price for his 'strategic decisions' almost every year when I'm called for conscription service.

[wat0n]

This is a dark day for Israel indeed, a narrow right-wing government will be a disaster for everyone.

I am happy though that the opposition will be strong from now on, Bibi's rule in the coming years is not a given anymore.

I think that there is a lesson to learn here as well - fear mongering works, at least if you want to cannibalize votes from your own sector like Bibi did (the bulk of the extra seats comes at the expense of the other right wing parties). Now that he'll likely be in even worse terms with Obama, I hope Herzog and Livni decide to use this to engage in their own fear mongering as well.

[layman]

Israel is safer than it has ever been. There are no serious threats and the number of citizens dying from Jihadi violence is tiny.

Still, they vote for hawks in the quest for absolute security. Something that is impossible and probably counter productive. I am guessing that it is primarily cynicism that drives this trend. A feeling that the only solution now is a slow annexation of the west bank because there can never be a meeting of minds.

[danholo]

I also find this a bit jarring. Then again, I didn't expect the outcome to be any different. The climate is what it is in Israel outside the Tel Aviv bubble. It's not like Herzog was offering any real solutions, either. I'm sorry but the political climate in Israel is pathetic and has been that way for 15 years now. The population is increasingly on the right with the left being demonized for even being accused of treason. There are practically no alternatives to Bibi. There is no one else who can carry any political weight of being a charismatic leader who has a vision. This is due to the fragmented and disunified character of the Israeli public. Israel doesn't know what it wants to be. The people on the right do, I think, and those on the left want to deny reality, as if a Jewish, democratic all-inclusive state could exist with liberal ideas. It really is an oxymoron in the geopolitical climate of the Middle East. At least the right possesses some clarity in this regard.

[nucklepunche]

Will members of the Jewish left simply leave Israel if they can get immigration status somewhere else? This may happen. The real wild card is the Ultra Orthodox sector, who has been resisting the government's plan to draft them into the military. Will they stay or will they use family ties to immigrate to Orthodox communities abroad (like in the USA)?

[wat0n]

Neither will leave, not en masse at least. Let's keep in mind that there is no guarantee Netanyahu will be able to even complete his term, if he manages to form a coalition (common sense suggests he should).

[RedPillAger]

Seriously?

I'm an Israeli citizen who suffers most from this terrible man. Putting the Israel-Palestinian conflict aside, under his watch, in every category you can think of he has done nothing, and when he did, it was only to ensure his survival.

Yesterday afternoon, he has gone as far as call thousands with a recorded message that the Palestinians are coming in busses from Jordan and the WB to vote for a leftist government, and that they must all recruit to save Israel.
Many idiots I know of immediately changed their minds because of that.

P.S.
Your gloating and calling me Anti-Semite is uncalled for, I'm the one who may pay the price for his 'strategic decisions' almost every year when I'm called for conscription service.

here in the US, there is a portion of the population (probably very small, relatively) that doesn't believe the elections are legitimate anymore, especially with the advent of electronic voting machines and discoveries of their tampering with, and the hoopla surrounding Bush Jr's election. i'm curious how confident your population is there in the legitimacy of your elections. when i learned of how close this was going to be, and the criticism of Netanyahu, it seemed like the opportunity might be there for some funny business.

[Beren]

I don't follow Israeli politics at all, but I'd be surprised if Netanyahu had not won and did not stay in power.

The White House is not happy with him: Netanyahu win dashes prospect for a thaw with Obama

[jessupjonesjnr87]

At least now we can put to bed the myth that Israelis want a peaceful solution to the Palestinian problem.

[Beren]

At least now we can put to bed the myth that Israelis want a peaceful solution to the Palestinian problem.

They certainly don't want a Palestinian state at least.

[pugsville]

I been careful about statements like Israeli don't want a peaceful solution to the Palestinian question. Generally most people want peace, just of their terms.

Many Israelis want a peaceful solution, and I would think a clear majority.
Some Israelis (a minority but a significant and well organised block) don't want a Palestinian state and want to annex a lot or all of the west bank.

Israel who want a peaceful solution don't want it enough to make it a number one voting issue. They don't want it enough to challenge the settlers. It's all very hard and with the Region generally exploding into a vast area of failed states the PA hardly inspires either Palestinians or Israelis with confidence.

The Israeli political system as it runs now is fragmented. You got two small major parties which are mostly opposed to each other which will never win an election but must form a large coalition or what 3,4.5 parties, and no one is going to build a collation on the Arab parties. SO in the absence of a Government of National unity the the most likely governing coalition is the Right with Religious parties and others, Traditionally (in recent times) the Right governs with the consent of settler and religious types who are able to get great influence.

[nucklepunche]

I been careful about statements like Israeli don't want a peaceful solution to the Palestinian question. Generally most people want peace, just of their terms.

Many Israelis want a peaceful solution, and I would think a clear majority.
Some Israelis (a minority but a significant and well organised block) don't want a Palestinian state and want to annex a lot or all of the west bank.

Israel who want a peaceful solution don't want it enough to make it a number one voting issue. They don't want it enough to challenge the settlers. It's all very hard and with the Region generally exploding into a vast area of failed states the PA hardly inspires either Palestinians or Israelis with confidence.

So in other words you believe that if Israelis voted on this issue alone they would have a peaceful solution? So in that case what else are they voting on. It seemed like a lot of people aren't really so gung ho about Netanyahu as they are unenthusiastic about other parties and Netanyahu has the advantage of being an incumbent.

As many problems as I have with a two party system I can see the downside of multiparty systems in situations like this when Netanyahu can "win" while winning less than 25% of the vote.

[pugsville]

I think most Israelis "in principle" would support the two state solution but their support would be pretty limited as most of them have serious concerns about what a Palestinian state would look like and it's variability, given the regional instability another failed state on their doorstep is hardly attractive. IOf the region was peaceful I think their support would be stronger.

Like a lot of people out of sight , out mind. (similar to Australia and the Aboringals, most Australia I think want a better deal, and more constructive policies, but they don't think about it a lot) Israelis have many other concerns, the economy their lives etc.

I don't think most Israeli want a solution that involves the mass removal of the settlers, in part because of the vast civil conflict within Israel, the settlers would cause as much trouble as they can. Effective peaceful solution is almost certainly going to involve a lot of conflict amongst Jewish Israelis, and with the regional instability and security concerns I don't think Israelis are committed to a two state solution enough to have that internal debate/fight at that moment.

[Moonchild]

here in the US, there is a portion of the population (probably very small, relatively) that doesn't believe the elections are legitimate anymore, especially with the advent of electronic voting machines and discoveries of their tampering with, and the hoopla surrounding Bush Jr's election. i'm curious how confident your population is there in the legitimacy of your elections. when i learned of how close this was going to be, and the criticism of Netanyahu, it seemed like the opportunity might be there for some funny business.

Even before the elections, it was always a slim chance and dependant on the right-centrist tie-breaker (Moshe Cachlon), and he was most likely going with Netanyahu. Also, I don't think there was any election fraud, the right wing bloc is pretty much the same size as it was in the previous elections, the difference is the hard right statements of Netanyahu that helped him gain votes from the other rightwing parties, and a dirty political trick that helped him take at least 2-3 mandates from Moshe Cachlon voters.

[layman]

At least now we can put to bed the myth that Israelis want a peaceful solution to the Palestinian problem.

By that logic neither to the Palestinians as they voted Hamas.

Look like you snookered yourself :P

It does seem to show a hardening and maybe more cynical aproach though. As I said before, left wing governments seemed to do better when the risks and violence against jews were greater.

[blackjack21]

I'm not surprised by this at all. Everything Obama touches turns to shit. His interference in the Israeli election isn't any different. Using the State Department and leftist Democrat political cronies to try to undermine Netanyahu was obviously going to backfire, especially after the speech Netanyahu gave to the US joint session of Congress--the White House deliberately absent. Egypt, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan are all a mess and Iran is on the rise. People are voting not out of some sort of baseless fear, but of a well-founded fear that the current US president is doing Iran's bidding at virtually everyone else's expense. I'm sure Obama will try to further undermine Israel at the UN, and it will probably lead to a wider war in the Middle East.

[wat0n]

pugsville is right, there is also a perception that even if Israel withdraws from the West Bank and a Palestinian state is founded, it will just end up like Gaza or Lebanon did after their withdrawals from there. The lack of trust between Israelis and Palestinians is mutual. Unfortunately, though understandably, withdrawals gained a bad name after past experience.

The Israeli right claims the conflict can't be solved and maybe that is true in the medium term but I highly doubt that simply hoping the status quo holds is good management. Maybe Israel needs a narrow right-wing government just to see how this isn't really good management as far as Israeli interests are concerned.

I mean, in any event (as I've said before) withdrawing settlements from the West Bank, especially those east of the barrier, is an Israeli interest in the short, medium and long term regardless of whether the peace process would resume as a result or not and despite the potential for trouble, which should not overstated anyway: A smart process of unilateral withdrawal of settlers would consist in a construction freeze in the areas to vacate along with a voluntary and compensated scheme to get settlers to live in their own terms, with a hefty compensation. In essence, the Israeli state would buy the settlers' property. Also the IDF would remain in the West Bank until a deal was reached as the problem with Gaza in particular didn't lie in the removal of civilians but in the removal of soldiers, if the PA wants the occupation to end it will have to accept a compromise.

I also don't think Israel could do much more unilaterally, realistically speaking.

And yet, this is exactly what has been proposed by former members of the Israeli security establishment (such as Ami Ayalon and Amos Yadlin, the latter of which would have been Minister of Defense had the Zionist Union won). It's sad that in the end way too many Israelis prefer to just wait until this calm status quo collapses in some way or another.

[Rich]

I'm not surprised by this at all. Everything Obama touches turns to shit. His interference in the Israeli election isn't any different. Using the State Department and leftist Democrat political cronies to try to undermine Netanyahu was obviously going to backfire, especially after the speech Netanyahu gave to the US joint session of Congress--the White House deliberately absent. Egypt, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan are all a mess and Iran is on the rise. People are voting not out of some sort of baseless fear, but of a well-founded fear that the current US president is doing Iran's bidding at virtually everyone else's expense. I'm sure Obama will try to further undermine Israel at the UN, and it will probably lead to a wider war in the Middle East.

How in God's name is Obama doing Iran's bidding? Have you no dignity? Does not America and the West not grovel sufficiently before our Zionist masters? The Fifth fleet sits in Bahrain defending the Sunni terror regime. We consort with Saudi, Pakistan, Qatar how can that add up to doing Iran's bidding in anything but the minds odf demented Jewish supremacists?

Is Netanyahu getting elected a bad thing? If it is why did the Republican Senators give him a platform? If its a good thing what's the problem with how Obama handled it. I have no problem with Netanyau getting elected. What I have a problem with is us sucking his dick for him.