*rubs hands*
So, what do we have here on this fair morning, after yesterday's stormy and election day!

Here's the breakdown according to the latest exist polls according to Politico.co.il with yours truly interesting notes:
Kadima - 28 mandates (23% of the vote) - Meaning Livni, at this point is to be PM. On the one hand, hooray...? Woman PM. On the other hand... woman PM with a Right wing agenda who has a history of voting against woman and minority right bills. And is likely to only turn Left-ish because Bibi will be taking all the Right wing seats under his Wing.

Likud - 27 mandated (21%) - Meaning Netanyahu is not going to let Livni get a clear victory. That fucking ass.

Yisrael Beitenu - 15 mandates (12%) - Oh my holy fuck, we're doomed, whoever ends up being PM is going to have to give Lieberman, that maniac, an actual position!

Avodah - 13 mandates (10%) - this, the party of Ben-Gurion, Golda and Rabin... how the mighty have fallen. Well, seeing as those who were mighty in it no longer had any say, I can't say I'm too surprised.

Shas - 11 mandates (9%) - the reason we went into *cough*early*cough* elections. They wedged Livni's attempt at creating a coalition and I doubt they'll be making things easy this time around as well. But at least they lost a seat this! I'm claiming a small victory over that.

Yahadut Ha'Torah - 5 mandates (4%) - another Right Wing religion party... I'm feeling the representation here.

National Union - 4 mandates (3%) - a party of former Likud and National Religious members. The other parties just didn't seem to cut it... oy.

National Religious - 3 mandates (3%) - these are the ones who ostensibly represent the Settlers interests. Though seeing as the Right bloc is fucking huge... they have a much smaller count than before.

United Arab List - Ta'al - 4 mandates (3%) - same as in the 17th Knesset. Not much to say about them. Like most of the Arab MK's they made a lot of noise, but were mostly ignored.

The Party I voted for: Hadash - 4 mandates (3%) - Yeah Baby! Extra seat in the Knesset! I'm very glad that their word got out and actually got them in! This is the only joint Jewish-Arab Party, it doesn't do tokenism and actually passed laws that were of benefit to everyone, while trying to fight discrimination and (unofficial) segregation.

Meretz - 3 mandates (3%) - what a blow. Their inconsistent message really put a stick in their wheels. Not to mention that with only three mandates, the best feminist and woman MK won't be getting back in because some upshot from the New Movement (which I mentioned not too long ago) got her seat, which is third on the list.

Balad - 3 mandates (3%) - again, no change. This Arab nationalist party is also a big noise maker and is also ignored. Israeli Arabs really have very little say in Israeli politics.

That's all folks. There are still the Soldiers, Diplomats and other Double Sealed (ballots put into double envelopes because the voters couldn't get to their registered ballot box - not the same as absentee) votes that need to counted.
Hopefully the Left gets a little more leverage. But I doubt it.
I hope this was an interesting to you as it was to me.
Probably not.

Any questions pertaining to this little Middle Eastern Banana Republic Theocracy Ethnocracy Mockery okay, okay!
Middle Eastern Democracy.

Said Emma Goldman, Anarchist, Feminist and Role Model.

Can't say I don't agree.

Still, I'll be voting positively on the issues for a party that holds my interests and what I believe to be the best interests of this idiotic country.

Hence:

More pertinent is that just two weeks before this country elects what is possibly the most Right wing Government since the early 80's is this!

A Gilad Shalit, along with a more "long term" cease fire, is under way and there may be positive news before the elections on Tuesday.
Shockingly, these are the points that are formulated:

# A cease-fire for 18 months in the Gaza Strip (unrelated to the West Bank). Once the cease-fire comes to an end, it will be possible to extend it for another 18 months. Hamas has promised to prevent attacks from the Gaza Strip and the IDF will avoid attacks of its own.

You mean like what we had from June to November? Only Israel didn't stop flying over the Strip and Hamas continued smuggling.
Such an honest bunch everyone is.

# A full reopening of the crossings between Israel and the Strip, which means more than mere humanitarian assistance will be allowed to cross into Gaza. Israel has conditioned a full reopening of the crossings on the release of Gilad Shalit.

We'll see about this.
Attaching Gilad Shalit to the borders will create even more dragging of feet. It's not like Hamas is to keen on giving up their only bargaining chip and Israel isn't really interested in helping create a viable economy in the strip.

# Gilad Shalit will be returned to Israel in the near future, in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

'Cause nobody saw this one coming. Seriously.

# Reopening of the Rafah border crossing. Following Egyptian insistence, the crossing will be run by Palestinian Authority officials loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas. However, unlike a similar 2005 agreement, Hamas will be allowed to maintain a presence at the crossings.

Hindsight.
Biggest bitch there ever was, eh?

Lastly, may I get a big resounding Duh. 'Cause this? This wasn't spoken about six months ago?
Oh, well, no one said we weren't predictable.

The Israeli Blogosphere makes the Guardian.

"If bloggers were representative of the mainstream ...", our next elections would be focused on social issues, environmental issues, have a distinctly Socialist-Democratic economic agenda and with a focus on Jewish-Arab co-operation.

Hard to believe that we're most likely going to be electing Bibi and the Hawkes.
Again.

Oh, well...

( Body of the article under the cut )
It's always nice when your opinions aren't vilifies and de-legitimized by your environment... pity it comes all the way across the channel.

One thing that bothers me about this article, is that it replicates the idea that the Tel-Aviv Bubble is this some kind of un-touched and detached urbanite fantasy land.
Because the 90's and early 2000's were a real hoot with suicide bombers taking themselves out in markets, malls and cafe's - in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Netanya and other Centre (of the country) cities.
Yeah, my father was nearly shot in his shop by a militant and I still hold the opinions that co-operation between Jews and Arabs is the way to go and that negotiations with our enemies will stop the fighting.
I'm not so sure about Peace at this point because surely there's more to Peace than just making sure nobody dies.

On Tuesday February 10th the State of Israel will be voting for it's 18th General Election (and our 5th in a decade, seriously, "Third World" stability) and it is slim pickings.

I'm obsessing a bit on the decision because it will actually be the first time I vote for the country's Knesset and PM. This isn't so surprising when one realised that I turned 18 two weeks after the 2003 elections and was out of the country in 2006, so... didn't get to vote.
Add to all that, that I'm actually politically aware and that my own politics seriously do not align with... anything that's on the electoral market.

I've no faith in the system.

Even the small parties that are voted in have very little power and generally produce bills to do with social welfare which is always good, of course, but with the way this country is going in that regard it looks as though even the Communist Party (the forerunners in social welfare laws) will be losing it's footing.

The whole election process is such a crock. We, the citizens, know that each and everyone of the politicians is corrupt, that every single move they make is in their own self-interests, that none of them have any intention of creating change (other than increasing the change lining their pockets) and that any ideology they have is used for nothing more than for pushing an agenda that will give them more power.

The main election issue floating around in the media isn't social welfare, or even the mush hailed Peace Process (which has been a joke for many a year).

It's how "we're" going to deal with Gaza.

There's no talk about... talking.

The word Occupation hasn't been mentioned anywhere, leaving the conciousness of the masses who are gearing to vote for a government that will continue streaming money into an Army that is being trained in policing a population while calling it "Defence".
Indeed, the whole "Only Democracy in the Middle East" myth doesn't live up to the standard of Israel believes itself to emulate.
We are of the British parliamentary method.
The fact that there is a vote doesn't a Democracy make.
When it is your ethnicity that dictates whether you are a citizen or second-class citizen...
When your religion dictates who you can associate and marry...
Well, I don't see any Western ideal there.

One of my friends mentioned that she will be voting for Tzipi Livni.
I asked her why, genuinely curious.
She said she can't not vote for a woman, because even if she doesn't do anything different (which she won't in the event of her being elected) there is still something symbolic in having a woman Prime Minister.
And in general I would agree.
But the idea of voting for someone which the only difference between her and the other candidates is Livni being a woman (it's a big significance difference), when her politics are just atrocious as Netanyahu's and Barak's.

I'm seriously considering blank-balloting.

Meretz is a liberal-Left wing Israeli party, which in the 90's was quite popular among the Intellectual Elite, The Student Body and in fact the majority of Jewish (and also some non-Jewish) people under the age of 35.
I dunno what happened, but the party lost it's luster and has been the political equivalent of a yapping Chiwawa. Makes a lot of noise, doesn't get much done with the saving grace of Zehava Galon* the only Meretz Memeber of Knesset with an actual social and feminist agenda.

Well, no more Chiwawa yapping for Meretz!
There's going to be a New Left in Israel!
Voices from different Labour and others from the Israeli Literati are putting their voices in for a stronger Meretz.
What a lovely, lovely thing it is to see all these former Labourists see the light of the "Real Left" in Israel.
This light is so bright, that they've completely blinded by the fact that all these Labourists and Literati are men.
White men.
Upper-middle class, intellectual, white men.

I love the smell of exclusion in the morning.
It smells like liberal bullshit!

Seriously now, did no one notice? Are Zehava Galon and Tsiva Greenfeld the only worthy women on the Meretz platform.
What there aren't any intellectuals and Literati women in this country? Don't tell me they're all flocking to Tzipi Livni?!
*gasp*
Could, could it be that you're taking the women's vote for granted?
MK Haim Oron, your sexism is showing, your racism too!

Adios, I'll find someone else who actually holds the values I believe in. You know, those values of social justice, representation, diversity and yes, bloody inclusiveness!.

( Labor figureheads to support Meretz in upcoming elections )

Notes:
*Tsiva Greenfeld was sworn in just before the Knesset liquidated itself for the elections in February, so I really have no opinion on her.