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Home , Avigdor Lieberman, Eli Yishai, Likud, Tzipi Livni, Yisrael Beiteinu

182 Med.2010 Panorama political system, and create one capable of taking the conflict preclude the conditions needed to reform the Arab-Israeli intense the by generated instability and tensions the And refugees. Palestinian of return the and capital two-state a as sharing Bank, such matters as dismantling settlements in the West in Palestine, regarding particularly process, peace to needed decisions the take to unable generates unstable multi-party coalitions, means it is its highly proportional representative structure, which The real dilemma of the Israeli political system is that governmentcoalition building process. Knessetthe(Israeliin Parliament), facilitatesand the threshold that helps to diminish the number of parties returned to the old system with a slightly higher election of parliament members, ended in utter failure: separating the election of the Prime Minister from the lae. The last and most important attempt in the 1990s, tricts, raising the thresholds and using various formu dis voting into country the subdividingmajoritarian, followers, unsuccessfully tried to make the systemrion,thefounding fatherthestate, of and mosthisof more SinceIsraelacquired independence, DavidGuBen process. state-building and nation-building the into integratetostateneedvarious immigrantsgroups of tional representative system was a product of the pre- Israel’sinstitutional structure with its strongly propor frontedby every of the country. challengesofkind conthe in aswellsystem, calas lem lie in the institutional structure of the Israeli politi has produced another stalemate. The roots of parliamentarianthe probstructure with a threshold of only 2%, proportionalhighlyrepresentative a on basednically The fragmentation of the Israeli political system, tech Jerusalemof TheUniversity Hebrew Trumanthe Peacefor of Institute Advancement Politicalof Department Science, Sznajder Mario The 2009ElectionsinIsrael PoliticsMediterranean | Middle East Middle

------coalition and call elections anyway.elections call and coalition ruling the abandon would Party Labour the down, step not did Olmert if that threat his and resign to Olmert on pressure Barak’s of result a as came fact in elections The polls. the to according appeal, toral elec- losing was 2008 Party,in Labour which the of leadership the retain to struggling was Defence, of winner of the Israeli election. , as Minister probable most the as seen was party, the of the Netanyahu, Benajmin TzipiLivni. Minister Affairs Foreign his by won , party, his within elections primary to led resignation Olmert’s Ehud turnout. voter low a and prestige losing politicians to contributed have Olmert, Ehud tral political personalities such as the Primer Minister The corruption and personal scandals affecting cen- century. 21st the of decade first the in 60% above slightly percentages to ago decades Israeli elections has declined steadily from 80% two The long-term pattern shows that participation in the Political The problems. major country’s the resolve to plans action proposing than rather attacks, against self to invest much more time and energy defending him- has election, last the in Barak and with Netanyahu Livni, case the was as candidate), main each (or that leader is characteristic main whose populism negative of kind a created has This leaders. the of election the including everything, control parties the for leaders – and not for parties – in a system in whichvote many where point the to increased has system ister directly, the tendency to personalise the political Min- Prime the electing by system majoritarian more a create to 1990s the in attempt failed the of result a As directions. both in broken be to needs circle decisions necessary for restoring peace. This vicious Background been learnt; with Gaza the army was ready to act. act. to ready was army the Gaza with learnt; been have 2006 in War Second the of lessons the Israel, In crisis. the solve to unable and petent of Olmert, Livni and Barak, claiming they were incom government the to situation border Gaza the Egyptian mediation, also failed. The Likud leader used through Israel, and between agreement fire ons and explosives. Attempts to reach a new cease- which they received regular supplies, including weap by Palestinians under their border with , through dug tunnels of hundreds to thanks failed, blockade All attempts to solve this problem by way of the Gaza Gaza. from firing mortar and rocket continuous the of issue the addressed seriously having without tion lition government knew that none could face the elec coa- the of members The campaign. electoral the of midst the in heights new to escalated violence The bases. military or depots ammunition be to thought sites attacking and launchers the targeting several occasions. Israel reacted to these attacks by on of city the hitting rockets, destructive more and range longer firing began Palestinians the 2008, In shells. mortar and rockets Kassam small of Negev areas that border Gaza with the constant firing the of population Israeli the harassed organisations Palestinian extremist other and Hamas from groups on 19 December 2008. Even before that date, armed lowing the end of the ceasefire between thefol- twoworsened rapidly but sides,good, never were Hamas, Relations between Israel and the ruling power in Gaza, Gaza from firing mortar and rocketcontinuous the of issue the addressed havingseriously without election the face could none that knewgovernment coalition the Theof members late problem. fund his pension the by to reaction and Israel hitting crisis the prevent to necessary measures the take to failure his by aged reputation as a neo-liberal financialwizard was dam much His camp. of Netanyahu the from target especially criticism, the was Bar-On, Roni Kadima’s Minister, Finance incumbent The issues. political main the of one as seen was elections, the to ing in cant Israel during the repercussions months lead signifi had which crisis, financial international The ------and could publicly deliver a perfectly clean record record clean perfectly a deliver publicly could and TzipiMinister Prime as served yet not has who Livni, This point was very well understood and exploited by modesty. public also but honesty, personal on only not centred that politics transparent of style new a Olmert and other politicians generated a demand for elections. Secondly, the corruption scandals affecting of the campaign for all 33 parties participating in the the necessary funds. Austerity became a natural part employment it was almost impossible to privately raise accounts. Firstly, in times of crisis and increasing un- crisis would not allow for increased expenses on two economic The disinterest. and boredom of one as The attitude to this process could be best described Campaign Electoral The crisis. security the by right extreme the to radicalised those all tracting at- now but Union, Soviet former the from migrants our Home) founded by and traditionally representing im- (Israel Beiteinu Yisrael party, political his and Lieberman Avigdor by occasion this on personified were playing into the hands of the Israeli , entail, Hamas and the other extremist groups in Gaza, would attitudes these consequences terrible the all with invasion, military the to population civilian tinian ing the Israeli attack, or not, and exposing the Pales- that this might produce. Moreover, by strongly resist- changes result electoral the all with reaction military Israeli an provoking were they government Israeli incumbent the on pressure increasing By Hamas. fact, in was, elections Israeli the in factors main the of one conclusion: paradoxical very a to leads This weak. and indecisive as ed end to the crisis, while the government was present- an put and hand firm a with Hamas confront to able leader, , was the only candidate its that claim easily could Likud The Israel. southern in population civilian the against attacks its up ping impossible to face an election while Hamas was stepvirtually was it formations political their and leaders tions. Nevertheless, we could conclude that for these Livni and Barak, to improve their chances country, at the the elec- govern to candidates main the of two included which government, incumbent the by tally instrumen decided was operation military this that the end of December 2008. It would be unfair to say at Gaza against Israel by launched Lead, Cast tion These were the factors that eventually led to Opera- - -

183 Med.2010 Panorama 184 Med.2010 Panorama igdor Lieberman and . Lieberman stressed four points. The first was hisLieberman campaign slo- Beiteinu. Yisrael and Lieberman igdor The rising star on the Israeli political horizon was Av- woman. a ligence agency, and asking the population to vote for highlighting her past service in , Israel’s intel- based on bolstering her image regarding security by were strategies campaign other Livni’s terror. and wars with up fed class middle a by mainly stituted con- centre, political Israel’s from votes conquer to by Livni and the leadership of Kadima as the formula harsh military a attitude time against same thethe extremists,at and was seenmoderates Palestinian the with compromise negotiated a fostered which line, US-Israeli-Palestinian summit in November 2007. This which she herself conducted following the Annapolis Mazen, Abu Abbas Mahmoud President, Palestinian moderate the with negotiations in developed tion sure. At the same time, Livni stressed the peace op- also being unwilling to stop despite international pres in Gaza, not only pushing for a military operation but paign was to take a pro-active attitude against Hamas cam- the of months last the during response Livni’s army? the from call phone the answering Minister, Prime as want you would attack on Israel at 03.00 hours in Iranian the morning – who an instance for – crisis security major a of case the In question: simple a constituency the ing ask card, this pacity.played Labour and Likud Both most ca- decision-making her and security were criticism received Livni Tzipi where areas the Again, crisis. deep a into and troika leading the of out place, fourth into party Labour the nudged Minister Defence as position his in authority Barak’s ically, serted his military know-how and capacity. Paradox- reas but leader, political a as reputation his aged Prime Minister, as from 1999period to previous 2001, whichhis badlyof dam effects the of himself rid not could circumstances, current the given Minister sidered by the public to be the best possible Defence con- Barak, delusive. was this although polls, the to towards Ehud Barak and the Labour party, according swing to seemed balance The interest. public’s the reignite to nothing did elections, the before weeks The resumption of the campaign in mid-January 2009, Gaza. in onslaught military Israeli the during weeks three for interrupted was campaign electoral The campaign. presidential his for line Obama’s politics”,following way some in of style new “the message: her through attributes these expressed She lifestyle. modest relatively and - - - - ating a coordinated Arab bloc in the . the in bloc Arab coordinated a ating the aforementioned historical trends, but without cre counteracting so, did they and vote to constituency their called Israel of leaders political Arab various the minute, last the at Nevertheless, Gaza. in – ers co-nationals – and perhaps families and even broth - Palestinian their attacked citizens are they which in groups of large Israel’s Arab population, since the country by felt alienation political the to contributed Gaza in operation military The processes. electoral country’s the in participation Arab Israeli in drop a from the last elections showed a growing apathy and parties and their electorate Arab in the Israel. In within general, place trends took reaction interesting An Knesset. the in majority first the obtain to Kadima, and Livni, Tzipi allowed that votes the were these are that claims there and voters Israeli the of sectors scared Lieberman. From another angle, the same poll results and their personification in the “strong man” Avigdor matic increase in dra support for radical a right-wing ideas showed Polls menace. existential the vour: fa- Lieberman’s in played that politics Israeli of ture supporting Hamas in Gaza, reawakened another fea- in role alleged ’s and themes, anti-Semitic clear included which of some demonstrations, anti-Israeli of outburst an criticism, international with coupled The indecisive results of the military operation in Gaza, parties. Arab the ence of the Jewish orthodox parties and marginalising try’s major problems, while also eliminating the influ- the government resolution capacity to solve the coun creating thereby presidential, to parliamentary from point is the reform of the electoral-government system, two major concentrations of Israeli . The fourth ments in the while receiving in exchange settle- of concentrations major the keep would rael Is which in exchange territorial-demographic a on third point is a peace plan with the Palestinians based The marriage. civil allowed be and courts rabbinical the outside settled matters civil have to like would point for immigrants – and also secular Israelis – who that determines who is a Jew. This is a very attractive thodox parties, demanding an opening of the criteria ultra-Or Israeli the of position the attacked and ity secular- stressed point second The Israel. to loyalty disenfranchised if they did not declare and prove their nationality – constituted a fifth column and should be Palestinian of citizens Israeli – Israel of population to Israel as a . He claimed that the Arab loyalty”,without loyalty citizenship meaning “no gan: - - - - - theKnesset. thesupporton leastatofthe120ofmembers65 of possibilities than Livni and Kadima, since it could countright-wing bloc led by Likud and Netanyahu had better asked to form the next coalition government. Here, the thepolitical leaders inorder todecide who would be Israeli President, held consultations with The coalition forming process was fully underway. The ofits electoral strength). only13 representatives to the Knesset (losing athird Knesset. Barak and the Labour party were able to representativesthe 15 towith sendBeiteinuYisraelthird, with 27 representatives to the Knesset, Lieberman and representatives. Netanyahu and the Likud came achievedsecondthe first majority in the Knesset, electing 28 a brilliant end to her and Kadima’s electoral campaign, This has been proved true again since , after than the total number of votes obtained by each party. possiblethepolitical coalitionsimportantless noare parliamentaryanobodytion,really winselection and In a system heavily based on proportional representa confused imaged that cost these parties many votes. a projected – stopped be operation the demanding and criticisingmorallyit later andsupport,complete initiallyofferingtheir – Gazamilitaryoperation in the centre-left wing parties – and Labour – tentialtowards menace. The ambivalent attitudes of the left and Iranian link that strengthens existing feelings of an exis the ongoing problem between Israel and Gaza, and an We know that there is a shift to the questionrightto answer. associated with difficultvery a is election?ThisIsraeli the won Who The 3 2 1 yet official. yet Heights. Golan the and WestGaza the Bank, in settlers and Party,religious Religious representing National former the of splinters are Home Jewish and Union tional Change shows an increase or decrease in the number of representatives for each party, compared with the last Knesset term. The source is the Knesset Electoral Committee and the results are seen as final but not but final as seen are results the and Committee Electoral Knesset the is source The term. Knesset last the with party,compared each for representatives of number the in decrease or increase an shows Change Na- both antecedent”,since “no means N/A days. preceding or election the of day the on voted who reservists) and army (regular soldiers and sea, at sailors abroad, diplomats Israeli of votes are envelopes Double 2009. 10, February – day election on Votesvotes Knesset. normal the are in represented are and threshold the reached election the in participating parties 33 of out 13 votes. 67,470 threshold: Electoral Balad Home Jewish The Movement-Meretz New Union -Ta’alArab TorahUnited Party Labour Beiteinu Yisrael Likud Kadima Party TABLE14 Results Final esults (by number of members of the of members of number (by Results 112,130 112,570 113,954 147,954 286,300 334,900 394,577 729,054 758,032 Votes 83,739 96,765 99,611 ouble envelopes Double 13,786 20,709 24,524 46,405 39,003 - - 6,479 5,980 1,739 7,942 1,391 5,399 nesset elected, by political party: seats) party: political by elected, Knesset 984 and deepening crises that no one wants to experience. pressure. Leaving things as they are means indecision internalinternational and combinationof a to thanks nearing,which maytakeplace sooner thanexpected is Israel in change for time the that signs constitute li-Arab conflict and increasing Iranian intervention.All They these elements contributed to worsening the Israe theAshkenazi-Orthodox party . andHayehudi) (HaBayitHome Jewishreligious alist Internal Affairs and smaller parties such as the nation MinisterofYishaias Eli by Orthodox ledShas,party Party, led by Barak as Defence Minister, the LiebermanForeignbyAffairsas Minister,Sephardic- Labourthe Netanyahu,YisraelBeiteinu,byled led Likud, the by formed coalitionwasruling The 2009. 31 March on approvalKnessetthemembersvote69in ported by 30-minister strong coalition government that was sup a becomingwassecondPrimetime.MinisterIt a for Finally, Netanyahu formed the 32nd Israeli government abroad. or home at right, radical the for whatsoever sympathy no displaying was and agenda policy foreign US the on item jor proclaimed the Middle East peace process as a ma- ton, where President Obama had heralded a new era, ernment of Israel implied a political cost in Washing- world. Incorporating into the gov- the of rest Washingtonthe from and out sent sages mes the on depended It seem. may it as utopian as not was possibility This power. from Beiteinu rael Yis and Lieberman exclude would which coalition, unity national a form to decide not did Barak and Livni Netanyahu, assuming formation, coalition the over leverage great wielded and party political otal Lieberman and Yisrael Beiteinu had become the piv- 2 Seats 11 13 15 27 28 3 3 4 4 4 5 3 1 Change +15 N/A N/A

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185 Med.2010 Panorama