Kadima Party Suffers Defeat

Yesterday, the 120 seats in Israel’s Knesset Parliament stood for election, and as the results came in late into the night, it saw a reversal of fortune for the ruling Kadima Party as it snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

As of press time, with more than 85 percent of ballot boxes counted, the Kadima political party, led by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, had won about 22 percent of the popular vote, giving her party 29 seats in the election.

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), which describes itself as the “voice of the Jewish people,” ran a banner headline saying “Vindication for Livni in surprise victory.”

At 1:30 a.m, Israeli time, Ms. Livni, exuded with self confidence and spoke to a throng of Kadima suporters in a large hall in Tel Aviv, proclaiming that “the people of Israel have spoken,” because the projected results showed that Kadima had won a plurality of votes.

She called it a “total victory,” declaring that as the party with the highest amount of votes in the Israeli political spectrum, she and her party had received a “clear mandate” to rule the country.

Ms. Livni’s speech, accompanied by loud music and continuous applause by party faithful, went on for more than 15 minutes, where she repeated over and over that Kadima had won.

However, she had not taken into account the possibility of political parties across Israel’s political spectrum combining their total votes to throw Kadima out of office.

The Likud party, led by former Israeli Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Finance Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, followed with a projected 28 seats.

Israel Beiteinu, led by Russian-born Avigdor Lieberman, who took a hardline stance against Israeli Arab leaders who opposed Israel’s recent military operation in Gaza, was expected to win 16 seats

Israel’s veteran Labor party, led by Israel Defnse Minister Ehud Barak, suffered an astounding defeat, garnering only 12 seats.

Israel’s four Orthodox Jewish parties gained at least 19 seats, while Israel’s Arab parties claimed 10 seats.

With Mr. Lieberman declaring that he would join a nationalist coalition, sunrise on the Israeli political horizon on this morning showed the dawn of a new political era for Israel. This showed Israeli voters had given those opposed to further Israeli compromises in future negotiations with Israel’s Arab neighbors a clear mandate in the Knesset.

A news commentator on the Voice of Israel Radio Newsreel said at 3 a.m. this morning, local time, that Ms. Livni’s 1:30 a.m. speech will be reserved for posterity as one of the funnier moments in Israel’s political history.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com