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03/29/2006:

"Kadima wins Israel's general election as Likud humiliated"

The ruling Kadima party won yesterday's general election in Israel, according to exit polls, but with fewer seats than the acting prime minister, Ehud Olmert, wanted in order for him to claim a mandate for his plan to impose Israel's final borders.
The election proved disastrous for the once dominant Likud party, driven into fourth place by Labour and the rise of the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu which advocates removing Arabs from Israel.

According to exit polls last night, Kadima won up to 32 seats in the 120-seat parliament. Labour has about 21, Yisrael Beiteinu 14 and Likud 12. The balance of seats is mostly held by religious and nationalist parties. The turnout, at 63%, was the lowest in Israel's history.

Mr Olmert's likely coalition partners are Labour and two smaller parties. He may also turn to the Pensioners party, which has never before held seats in parliament but is estimated to have won eight in an apparent protest vote.

The election was widely regarded as a referendum on Mr Olmert's commitment, backed by Labour and the left, to unilaterally withdraw from large parts of the West Bank, to remove tens of thousands of Jewish settlers while retaining the main settlement blocks, and to carve out a border using the West Bank barrier. Likud, led by Binyamin Netanyahu, and other parties on the right argued that pulling out of Palestinian territory would be a victory for terrorism.

In his victory speech, Mr Olmert said he would press ahead with his plan to separate from the Palestinians.

"In the near future we will bring about the shaping of the final borders of the state, guaranteeing a Jewish democratic state," he said.

The acting prime minister said he wanted to negotiate frontiers with the Palestinians only on condition they recognise Israel and end violence.
guardian.co.uk