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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel's Netanyahu clings to power as coalition talks loom

2019-09-21

[DAWN] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced local media headlines on Friday suggesting power is slipping from his grasp after an election in which he trails his main rival with nearly all votes counted.

The right-wing leader failed on Tuesday, for the second time in five months, to secure a clear election victory and the centrist Blue and White party led by ex-armed forces chief Benny Gantz rebuffed his calls to join a unity government on Thursday.

Near-final results released on Friday by the Knesset's election committee showed Blue and White will be the largest single party in the new parliament with 33 of the 120 seats, with Netanyahu's Likud winning 31 seats, three less than it had before.

Israeli newspapers and commentators depicted the 69-year-old leader as in a weakened position, with headlines such as: "Himself Alone" and "Political Death Spasms".

Israeli president Reuven Rivlin will on Sunday start consultations with the parties about choosing a leader to put together a coalition.

There were only narrow differences in the two main parties' campaigns on many important issues, and an end to the Netanyahu era would be unlikely to bring significant changes in policy on relations with the United States, the regional struggle against Iran
Iran

...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
or the Paleostinian conflict.

Posted by:Fred

#4 The outside, grom.

Posted by: gorb 2019-09-21 09:56

#3 ^20% of the population are Arabs, and most of them are too dumb to know which side of their bread has the butter on.

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-09-21 06:21

#2 I always thought Gantz was like a poseur, not up to the task but seeking power. Those who really know better would vote for Bibi.

And how does the Arab party get even that much ? Libertarian israelis ?

Posted by: Dron66046 2019-09-21 06:18

#1 faced local media headlines on Friday suggesting power is slipping from his grasp

Just like your media with "orange man bad", ours has "Bibi has to go" mantra. Gantz doesn't have 57 votes. He has a block of 44 votes in his pocket (the other 13 are United Arab Party - the enemy). Bibi has 55 with orthodox parties. Liberman holds 8.

Gantz can't form a coalition without Liberman - and nobody knows what Liberman wants. And either religious parties - in which cases he betrays most of his voters, or Arab parties - in which cases he betrays most of his voters (as well as everybody else).

Plus, Gantz wouldn't be very good in coalition negotiations.

So, I guess, Israel heading for unprecedented third elections

Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-09-21 03:33

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