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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel faces gridlock as rivals claim power |
| 2009-02-12 |
| Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and hawkish ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu were locked in a battle for power on Wednesday after a photo-finish election that could send peace talks into limbo. Livni's centrist Kadima party won 28 seats in the 120-member parliament, just one ahead of Netanyahu's Likud party, leaving the country facing perhaps weeks of political uncertainty. Avigdor Lieberman's ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party came in third with 15 seats -- it's best-ever showing -- and the centre-left Labor party fell to 13, its worst performance in any Israeli election. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party came in fifth with 11 seats. Analysts said the country was as split as the Palestinians and the prospects of the two making peace were dimmer than ever. Centrist Tzipi Livni's Kadima party won the most votes but had little chance of building enough support for a coalition. Right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu can get the support, but analysts said the likely coalition would prove dysfunctional. "I won," read the headline of the country's biggest newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, over photos of both leaders. President Shimon Peres must now decide whether to call on Livni or Netanyahu, who then has 42 days to form a government. He is expected to begin talks next week. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 ION FREEREPUBLIC > SYRIA IS ARMING TERRORISTS AGZ THE US SIXTH FLEET. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-02-12 02:30 |