Netanyahu Ahead In Battle For Israel's Helm

[Purveyor]

Source: Agence France-Presse

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu is running ahead of centrist Tzipi Livni in the fight to take the Israeli helm after an election whose shift to the right raised concerns over the future of peace talks, observers said on Thursday.

"The chances of Livni forming a government amount to zero," said Avraham Diskin, a political scientist with Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a sentiment echoed in much of the media.

Livni's Kadima narrowly emerged as the top party in Tuesday's election with 28 seats, but the foreign minister does not have the support needed for a governing coalition of at least 61 MPs in the 120-member parliament.

Netanyahu, a former prime minister whose Likud party won 27 seats, could count on a total of 65 seats with the backing of right-wing factions which dominated the vote.

Final results were expected later on Thursday once military and overseas ballots are counted.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090212/ts_afp/mideastisraelvote_20090212154323

[Captain Hilts]

1. Of the NutsAndYahoos party. nt

[Hell Hath No Fury]

2. Disaster.

An absolute disaster. :(

[Iliyah]

3. he had help from the bushies

With him in office there is no doubt that he will attack Iran and thus start WW3.

[niceypoo]

4. There will be no peace with this guy at the helm

...the apartheid concentration camp system will worsen with Netanyahu. No peace, no money from us.

[crikkett]

11. No money AND no weapons.

Obama should declare a moratorium on weapons sales.

[rateyes]

5. I hope Obama gets Netanyahu's attention,

and soon. He should tie aid to Israel's actions. If Israel pulls out of the occupied territories and allow East Jerusalem as a capital for Palestine, then we help. If Israel doesn't, and/or they start up with Iran---pull the plug on Israel. We, Americans, should not support that bullshit with our tax dollars.

[Chulanowa]

7. "Take away their money" won't help

Israel is already armed enough to tear apart as many country as it wants. At this point all those billions of "defense aid" they get from the United States probably goes mostly towards buying wardrobes for the wives of generals.

We cut funding, and Israel will shrug and just blast anything to hell anyway. And they'll blame us for all the people htey kill, of course.

And honestly... they'd be right. The United States created this situation, with a lot of help from Great Britain. These "allies" systematically destroyed the governments and economies of all of Israel's neighbors. It starved and crippled one nation that may have been capable of providing a counter to Israel in the region, and it has been threatening the other contender for that position with nuclear annihilation.

Basically, our two governments have created a war machine, encouraged its goals from day one, and we can't really sit back and complain when this nation does exactly what we wanted it to do. If America gave a shit about the Palestinians, much less the other nations in the area, maybe, just maybe we should have focused on helping them out, and on paring back all our reflexive defense of Israel.

If Israel goes balls-to-wall killing spree under Bibble Nuttyahoo, the shame will be on American nad British hands as certainly as on Israel's.

[crikkett]

12. No it's not -- they stopped pounding Gaza when an arms shipment was held up by Greece.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Best hope now is for weak Netanyahu government and early elections

If there's disillusionment with Netanyahu as PM, new elections could have a different outcome. Although the deeper and long-term problem is the withering away of the Israeli left over the past 10 or 20 years.

[Brimon]

8. Can someone explain this to me.

I am not trying to be funny here,it is a serious question.

I have never fully understood why Israel holds so much sway in American politics. Israel at one time was, & probably still is, in contravention of more United Nations mandates than any other country,but still they enjoy a protectionism disproportionate to their size / strategic position.
American politicians have no problem sabre rattling with Iran,Korea etc but very rarely ,if ever,condemn the actions of Israel.I would point out that I appreciate that the Arab nations are no better in the Middle East situation, so this is not an anti-Israel post, just a long time curiousity on my part.

[LeftishBrit]

9. Probably because Israel is their ally and on the whole does as it's told?

American officials did criticize Israel a few months ago for negotiating with Syria 'without American permission!' - which, it seems to me, says quite a lot about the situation.

Right-wing Americans don't criticize Israel for acting in a warlike manner, because they *want* it to act in a warlike manner againts America's 'enemies'. Unless this could interfere with their own aims - e.g. America successfully influenced Israel not to retaliate against Saddam's scud missiles in the First Gulf War, as that would have complicated the situation for America.

American officials show similar discrepancies and double standards in their reactions to other Middle Eastern states: they will rattle their sabres against Iran, but not Saudi Arabia.

The UN is made up of politicians who have their own double standards - just as America's bias is toward Israel, the UN's tends to be against Israel, and also against criticizing big and powerful countries. Hence, they've got lots of resolutions against Israel, but not against the USA or China.

I think and hope that under Obama, American pressures on Israel - and other states in the region - will be more in the direction of peace rather than war.

[LeftishBrit]

10. Still possible he won't achieve it.

He did less well than expected in the election.