# Israeli Knesset election 03/17/15 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 17, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965 "2015-02-17T22:59:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/61 "2015-03-17T20:22:38Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > So the idea is that no one wants the Arab List in their coalition (and the feeling might be mutual), and the remaining MKs have no clear path for labor if the exit polling is correct? > > But has the Arab List ever had so many seats? Seems possible both sides would change their orientation if/when they get enough power to matter. The exit polls show 12 for the Arab List. In the current Knesset, Arab parties had, all together, 11. The difference is not huge. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/62 "2015-03-17T20:31:20Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > **Terr** and **Alessan** : I know it’s not as easy as that, but what’s your take on the likely coalitions given the election results? who gets left out and who gets ‘in’ the majority? Easiest would be Likud+YB+BY+Shas+UTJ+Koolanu. There is no pairing in that coalition that would absolutely refuse to be in government together. While Bibi is negotiating to create that coalition, he will be threatening them with making a joint coalition with Labor+Livni. Together, according to the exit polls, they have 54-55 seats, so in theory they only need two or three of the parties in the above list to join to form a government. Which will allow Bibi some room in the negotiations. But IMO the chances of joint coalition are very small. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/63 "2015-03-17T20:33:33Z")
Is there enough party discipline to ensure that any party will definitely get the votes of all it’s MKs? Or do individual MKs ever break ranks on a PM vote? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/64 "2015-03-17T20:36:35Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > Is there enough party discipline to ensure that any party will definitely get the votes of all it’s MKs? Or do individual MKs ever break ranks on a PM vote? Well, for example, there is absolutely no party discipline in the Arab List. They only formed the united party because of the high percentage of vote needed to get into Knesset which they would not have passed if they ran on their own, but immediately after the elections they are basically the same three parties with their differences that they were before. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/65 "2015-03-17T21:14:58Z")
[Mairov Zonszein writes in _The Nation:_](http://www.thenation.com/article/201553/anyone-netanyahu) > [@](#): > > The Zionist Union, headed by Labor’s Isaac Herzog together with Tzipi Livni, who served as justice minister and chief negotiator in the outgoing Netanyahu government, have been marketing itself as “not Netanyahu.” The party’s primary campaign slogan is “It’s us or him” (while Netanyahu’s has been, in response, “It’s us or them”). The Zionist Union promises to restore Israel’s image and international standing by resuming negotiations with the Palestinians and showing more respect for Washington. The party appeals to those Israelis who seek a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict but appear content to continue the search without actually achieving any results. On specifics, the Zionist Union isn’t willing to cede East Jerusalem and won’t discuss the Palestinian right of return. Herzog recently said Netanyahu didn’t deal Hamas a hard enough blow in Gaza and called the Palestinian appeal to the International Criminal Court a unilateral offensive against Israel. After six consecutive years of Netanyahu, the Zionist Union’s commitment to the “peace process” may appear to be refreshing, but the promise of never-ending negotiations with no real hope of ending the occupation isn’t all that different from Likud. > > In fact, settlements, the Palestinians, the occupation and last summer’s war in Gaza have been all but absent from this election. A recent Israel Democracy Institute poll shows that a solid majority of Israelis (nearly 60 percent) believe that no matter which party forms the next government, no progress will be made regarding the peace process “because there is no solution to the dispute between the sides.” > > Israelis surveyed also consistently claim that their primary concern when voting is the cost of living, which became a central issue in the previous election, following the 2011 tent protests, when hundreds of thousands of Israelis demonstrated for weeks. A government survey last June found that four in ten Israelis are not able to make ends meet, and 47 percent are not satisfied with their economic situation. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/66 "2015-03-17T21:19:06Z")
If you’re a Palestinian living in Gaza, it’s not clear to me that you prefer Labor over Likud, do you? Neither’s coalition seems posed to do anything meaningful about the current stalemate, but there will surely be less international sympathy for Likud now that the mask is off with regard to support for a two-state solution, and given Netanyahu’s demagoguery of the last 48 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/67 "2015-03-17T21:45:58Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Nah it is a lot simpler. > > The “biggest party” thing is just bragging rights. There is no requirement that the President has to give the task of forming the government to the biggest party. After the results are announced, the parties come to the President and each gives him the name of the person they want to form the government. The one that gets the support of 61 votes gets that task - note: this is just 61 votes recommending who will try to form the coalition first. Oh. Uh. So what people were voting on today was for who each party will recommend to the President as their choice for the guy who forms the parties? Then the party who can find 61 votes (from other KP’s?) gets the job? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/68 "2015-03-17T21:51:17Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Oh. Uh. So what people were voting on today was for who each party will recommend to the President as their choice for the guy who forms the parties? Then the party who can find 61 votes (from other KP’s?) gets the job? Well, people were voting for parties today. They were not voting for the parties’ recommendations to the President, necessarily (in some parties’ case the recommendation is automatic, for others there is room for decision). People elect parties to Knesset. Those parties then decide how to form the government. But these silly “too close to call” articles I see in US press are just stupid. There is no difference, in principle, whether it is Likud 27 and Labor 28 or vice versa. There is nothing “to call”. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/69 "2015-03-17T21:51:21Z")
It’s a shame to see that Netanyahu resorted to racist rhetoric at the very end (“Arab voters are streaming in huge quantities to the polling stations” – as if it’s bad and wrong if Arab Israelis choose to vote), and even more of a shame that the tactic may have actually worked. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/70 "2015-03-17T21:56:39Z")
As I seem to be with most issues related to Israel, I’m with [Jeffrey Goldberg](http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/03/netanyahu-on-the-cross/387973/) here too. Like him, I also used to think of Netanyahu as a potential force for real positive change. No more, sadly. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/71 "2015-03-17T22:02:09Z")
So, at the risk of oversimplifying: Netanyahu’s side was expected to lose badly, but a tie/draw is considered to be a moral victory? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/72 "2015-03-17T22:14:48Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > If you’re a Palestinian living in Gaza, it’s not clear to me that you prefer Labor over Likud, do you? It’s not clear to me that you can vote anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/73 "2015-03-17T22:16:50Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > It’s not clear to me that you can vote anyway. You can vote for Hamas. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/74 "2015-03-17T22:17:15Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > So, at the risk of oversimplifying: Netanyahu’s side was expected to lose badly, but a tie/draw is considered to be a moral victory? There was no expectation that Netanyahu’s side will lose, badly or slightly, and there is no tie/draw in the (at least the exit poll-preliminary) results. Netanyahu will be the next Prime Minister. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/75 "2015-03-17T22:23:58Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > You can vote for Hamas. Can you? I’m surprised the Strip these days is even organized and orderly enough to have PA elections. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/76 "2015-03-17T22:35:00Z")
The latest in exit polls shows that Yahad passed the minimum percent, which bolsters the right-wing camp quite a bit. (And if true, congrats to Baruch Marzel). ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/77 "2015-03-17T23:25:58Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > It’s not clear to me that you can vote anyway. No, of course not. I wasn’t implying otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/78 "2015-03-17T23:38:35Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > And that will not happen because: 1. The Arab list will not join a “Zionist” government, and 2. If that somehow happens (it won’t) that will be suicide for the Labor in the next elections. So, 1) what kind of Israeli government would UAL join, and 2) what kind of government could UAL join that would not be electoral suicide for anyone? Serious question. Important one, too, I doubt the territories mess is ever going to be resolved until the Arabs are in the government. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/79 "2015-03-17T23:40:03Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Well, for example, there is absolutely no party discipline in the Arab List. They only formed the united party because of the high percentage of vote needed to get into Knesset which they would not have passed if they ran on their own, but immediately after the elections they are basically the same three parties with their differences that they were before. That could change, too, couldn’t it, now that they’ve learned the advantages of unity? ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2015, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965/80 "2015-03-17T23:41:45Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > So, 1) what kind of Israeli government would UAL join One that renounces Zionism? > [@](#): > > 1. what kind of government could UAL join that would not be electoral suicide for anyone? Serious question. Important one, too, I doubt the territories mess is ever going to be resolved until the Arabs are in the government. As long as Zionism is supported by a huge majority of Israeli Jews, none. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israeli-knesset-election-03-17-15/712965.md?page=5)