Israelis Head to Polls Amid Tightened Security

Enoch · Mar 28, 2006

Fox News

JERUSALEM — Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has laid out the choice in stark terms: a vote for his Kadima Party in Tuesday's election is a vote for an Israeli pullback from much of the West Bank.

Barring an unexpected right-wing surge, Israelis will give a green light to that idea in a watershed election that looks set to lead the Jewish state toward separation from most Palestinians after 39 years of occupation.

But the vote is more than a referendum on withdrawal. The makeup of the next Knesset will largely determine the shape of Israel's final borders — and the degree to which they will cut into the territory wanted by Palestinians for a future state.

Even major violence appears unlikely to shake a new Israeli consensus that Israel must quit the main Palestinian population centers if it is to be both Jewish and democratic.

Police were taking no chances Monday, tightening security at West Bank checkpoints and closing off Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque compound to visitors. Officers stood guard on the roofs and balconies of buildings above Jerusalem's Jaffa Road, peering into a crowded market through binoculars.

On the campaign's last day, Labor Party leader Amir Peretz handed out red carnations in Tel Aviv, while Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the rightist Likud Party, said prayers at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site. Kadima's No. 2, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, chatted with vendors at Jerusalem's main outdoor market, eating a strawberry one of them gave her.

Kadima, the centrist party formed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon two months before he suffered a massive stroke that left him comatose, is promising divorce — not only from the Palestinians but also from old formulas of "land for peace" and the establishment of a "Greater Israel" incorporating conquered Arab lands.

The lure of divorce has grown stronger in the wake of Hamas militants' rise to power in the Palestinian territories, fueling a go-it-alone approach that is fast becoming the defining characteristic of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Sharon's main legacy has been to plant the idea that Israel need not wait for a formal peace treaty to separate from the Palestinians, and his successor, Olmert, has positioned himself as the man most likely to make that happen.

That helps explain why Olmert, a cigar-smoking former mayor of Jerusalem with a reputation for smugness, is expected to easily become Israel's next prime minister even though he's not particularly liked.

"The reason I believe that Kadima has persisted is because it was never about Sharon but about finally giving expression to the one political camp in this country that until now has been consistently underrepresented, the centrist majority that is hard-line on security but pragmatic on territory," said Yossi Klein Halevi, a senior fellow at the Shalem Center think tank in Jerusalem.

After Sharon's Jan. 4 stroke, poll numbers showed Kadima winning about 40 of the 120 parliament seats up for grabs. That number has dropped to 35 seats or less, according to most polls, with the left-of-center Labor Party coming in second with around 20 seats and Likud a distant third with about a dozen seats — a stunning decline for the party that ruled Israel for most of the past three decades.

With Israel's traditional right-left divide largely replaced by an emerging consensus on the need to "disengage" from the Palestinians — and with Kadima considered a shoo-in for forming the next government — the elections have been described as the dullest in Israeli history.

But many questions remain unanswered:

• Will right-wing parties, aligned with religious forces, be able to pull off a last-minute upset, forming a "blocking majority" of 60 seats instead of the 52 or so predicted by current polls?

• Will left-wing parties win enough seats to force Kadima to take a softer stance toward the Palestinians, perhaps altering plans to incorporate large swaths of West Bank territory in any future pullback?

• Will Kadima need to rely on Arab parties to form a ruling coalition?

• Will Olmert ask Avigdor Lieberman, head of a surging right-wing party that advocates redrawing borders to exclude Arab citizens from Israeli territory, to join a coalition?

Olmert made it clear in pre-election interviews that he planned to withdraw from much of the West Bank and draw Israel's final borders within four years, a surprising deviation from previous candidates who kept post-vote policy plans deliberately vague.

But in the absence of peace talks, few expect Olmert's borders to look anything like the kind of state Palestinians envision for themselves, with expanded Israeli settlement blocs jutting far into the West Bank.

"Kadima is certainly a party of unilateralism and of singlehandedly dictating the borders of both states," said Palestinian lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi. "We don't see that there is any peace movement or camp in Israel that is emerging in order to accept the requirements of a two-state solution and of a negotiated settlement based on international law."

Danny Radovan, a 30-year-old wine seller, counts himself among the 10 percent of Israeli voters who are still undecided. Withdrawal from the West Bank, he said, "is the only solution, but you have to tread lightly and not rush in.

"We can't have snipers sitting up on hills (yards) away from our houses."
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Enoch · Mar 29, 2006

'We Are Prepared to Compromise'

PM Olmert Declares Victory for Kadima Party in Israel

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

JERUSALEM — Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared victory for his centrist Kadima party in Israel's elections Tuesday, vowing to act on his own if necessary to draw Israel's final borders and "painfully" uproot Jewish settlers if negotiations with the Palestinians are not possible.

Standing below a massive portrait of his mentor Ariel Sharon, Olmert addressed chanting Kadima members as it became clear the party had won enough seats in parliament to form a ruling coalition.

Building on the vision of Sharon, who formed the party shortly before succumbing to a devastating stroke that left him in a coma, Olmert claimed a mandate to withdraw from much of the West Bank and set Israel's borders, which he has said he will do by 2010.

With 99.7 percent of polling stations accounted for, Kadima was winning 28 of 120 seats in parliament, the Election Commission reported early Wednesday.

The turnout was the lowest in Israel's history, and the results showed voters turning away from conventional political parties to an assortment of third parties with agendas ranging from pensioner rights to the legalization of marijuana. The aftermath will likely be a period of difficult negotiations between Olmert and potential coalition partners.

"Today, Israeli democracy has spoken its piece, in a loud and clear voice," Olmert declared. "Israel wants Kadima," which means forward in Hebrew.

Labor leader Amirt Peretz and Likud chief Benjamin Netanyahu called Olmert to congratulate him, as did British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Olmert said he was ready for new peace talks and was prepared to make painful compromises such as uprooting some Jewish settlements in the West Bank and allowing Palestinians to have a state. But he demanded that the Palestinians be willing to compromise in return.

"In the coming period, we will move to set the final borders of the state of Israel, a Jewish state with a Jewish majority," Olmert said. "We will try to achieve this in an agreement with the Palestinians."

Olmert has said he would govern only with parties that accept his program, and projections showed a center-left coalition capturing 61 to 65 seats in the 120-member parliament. The hawkish parties fell far short of their plan to win enough seats to block Olmert's program.

As Israel held its election, the Palestinian parliament approved a new Cabinet led by the Hamas militant group. Incoming Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh told Al-Jazeera television that he opposed Olmert's plan. "Such a plan definitely won't be accepted by the Palestinian people or the Palestinian government," he said.

Allies of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate from the Fatah Party, called for immediately renewing talks on the internationally backed "road map" peace plan under the auspices of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which he heads.

Olmert has said he supports the road map but will not wait indefinitely for a peace deal and would move unilaterally after a reasonable period of time.

Turning to the Palestinians, Olmert said: "We are prepared to compromise, give up parts of our beloved land of Israel, remove, painfully, Jews who live there, to allow you the conditions to achieve your hopes and to live in a state in peace and quiet."

"The time has come for the Palestinians ... to relate to the existence of the state of Israel, to accept only part of their dream, to stop terror, to accept democracy and accept compromise and peace with us," he said.

Israeli officials have ruled out talks with Hamas unless the Islamic group renounces violence and accepts Israel's right to exist, demands Hamas has so far rejected. It remains unclear whether Olmert would negotiate with Abbas without a change in Hamas' position.

The leader of the largest party is traditionally asked first to try to form a ruling coalition. Whether Olmert chooses to form a government with dovish parties or more hardline factions could determine his ability to carry out his plan. With the results early Wednesday, Labor was winning 20 seats and Likud 11.

Olmert could form a coalition with Labor, the dovish Meretz and the party that advocates pensions for retirees, or he could add the ultra-Orthodox Shas or United Torah Judaism parties to his government.

Olmert, the vice prime minister and former mayor of Jerusalem, took over the party after Sharon suffered a devastating Jan. 4 stroke and immediately became the favorite to win the elections. Much of Kadima's campaign was built around Sharon, Israel's most popular politician, and his legacy resonated with many voters.

"It was important for me to vote, to continue the way of Sharon," said Rina Golan, 65, who voted for Kadima.

But Sharon had been much more circumspect than Olmert about his post-election plans. He never spoke of drawing final borders, and said there would not be an additional unilateral pullout in the West Bank.

Labor's total represented a strong showing by new party leader Peretz, who ran on a social platform advocating a higher minimum wage and guaranteed pensions for the elderly.

"The Labor Party has regained its credibility," said Labor lawmaker Colette Avital.

Likud, which had dominated Israeli politics for decades, was crushed, appearing to capture less than a third of the 38 seats it won in the last election. Netanyahu, the former prime minister and current party head, warned that further unilateral withdrawals would bring Hamas closer to Israel.

"We have no doubt that the Likud suffered a hard blow," Netanyahu told his party activists. He blamed Sharon, who bolted Likud to form Kadima, for leaving behind "a broken and shattered party."

A strong majority of voters turned away from Likud and Labor, the only two parties that have ever ruled Israel, to vote for the new Kadima and fringe parties. Though other attempts to create a strong centrist party in Israel have failed, analysts said Sharon's personal popularity gave Kadima its edge.

Two marginal parties posted strong showings.

The pensioners' party appeared to be the surprise protest vote of the election, taking seven seats. The party, headed by former Mossad spymaster Rafi Eitan, who oversaw a sensational espionage operation against the U.S. in the 1980s, was not represented in the last parliament. Kadima said the party was a natural coalition partner for Olmert.

The Shas party was projected to get 13 seats.

Elections officials said that even after 100 percent of the polling stations are accounted for, they would still have to count the votes of soldiers and Israelis who voted in locations other than their home stations, like invalids and election workers — so the total vote count would not be completed until Friday.

The record low voter turnout, 63.2 percent, was attributed partly to Kadima's dominance during the campaign. But the apathy was also a reflection of Israelis' disillusionment with rampant government corruption and veteran politicians' switching parties, which many saw as purely opportunistic.
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Fox News

hillclimber · Mar 29, 2006

Turning to the Palestinians, Olmert said: "We are prepared to compromise, give up parts of our beloved land of Israel, remove, painfully, Jews who live there, to allow you the conditions to achieve your hopes and to live in a state in peace and quiet."

Utter foolishness...and in the interest of peace

LadyEagle · Mar 29, 2006

Agreed. You can't make deals with the devil/terrorists.

Enoch · Mar 29, 2006

Originally posted by LadyEagle:
Agreed. You can't make deals with the devil/terrorists.
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Solar Eclipse Envelopes Israel in Brief Darkness

As Israel digested the results of Tuesday's election, the sky went dark, the sun was slowly blocked out, temperatures dropped and animals howled, barked and crowed across the Land of Israel.
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Check out the pictures.

Arutz Sheva

KenH · Mar 29, 2006

Way to go, Kadima Party!

Joseph_Botwinick · Mar 29, 2006

Ken,

Would you say the same for the Palestinian Government...you know, Hamas, the folks that Israel is about to give land to and establish as a government all in the name of peace. I am not sure yet whether or not this is a good thing. I want peace in Israel, but I don't think it will be achieved by giving the Palestinians more land. If that were the case, this conflict would have ended years ago. Sharansky and I still agree when we state that the only way to achieve peace in Israel is to demand reciprocity from the Palestinian Government and connect their willingness to give and take to them recieving what they want.

Joseph Botwinick

KenH · Mar 29, 2006

Originally posted by Joseph_Botwinick:
Would you say the same for the Palestinian Government
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I don't like Hamas but as far as I can tell Hamas won the Palestinian election fair and square.

Joseph_Botwinick · Mar 29, 2006

I guess I just don't know why you are so happy that Kadima won.

Joseph Botwinick

KenH · Mar 29, 2006

It keeps hardliners like Netanyahu out of power.

Joseph_Botwinick · Mar 29, 2006

What is a hardliner and what do they want to do that is so bad?

Joseph Botwinick

KenH · Mar 29, 2006

I don't think that folks like Netanyahu want a two state solution and would scuttle any effort to create this solution.

Joseph_Botwinick · Mar 29, 2006

What do you base that on?

Joseph Botwinick

KenH · Mar 29, 2006

I have kept up with Netanyahu over the years. I have a friend at work who has been a big admirer of his for years.

Joseph_Botwinick · Mar 29, 2006

What has he said or done to make you believe this?

Joseph Botwinick

KenH · Mar 30, 2006

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a painful political setback Sunday night at the hands of his rival, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when the Likud Central Committee adopted a resolution completely rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state.

- LINK

Joseph_Botwinick · Mar 30, 2006

From the same article:

Netanyahu said that he supported an entity that allowed the Palestinians to govern themselves, but opposed granting them all of the rights that come with statehood - such as maintaining an army and acquiring weapons - because such a state would threaten Israel.

"Self rule - 'Yes'; state - 'No,'" Netanyahu said.
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and this quote, from an article about Bibi on Wikipedia:

"If they give - they'll get. If they don't give - they won't get".
"יתנו - יקבלו. לא יתנו - לא יקבלו"
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web page

Sounds like reciprocity on the road to self governance, which would at least be a first step to them getting their own state to me. This doesn't sound like a person who doesn't want peace or doesn't want the Palestinians to have their own land to me.

Joseph Botwinick

KenH · Mar 30, 2006

That's okay, Joseph. We just have different views on Mr. Netanyahu.

Joseph_Botwinick · Mar 30, 2006

Do we have different views on reciprocity also?

Joseph Botwinick

KenH · Mar 30, 2006

No.

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