CAIRO: As the final tally for the Israeli elections becomes known, the close results highlight the ambiguity over who will form the coalition government.
The centrist Kadima party was the victor with 28 seats narrowly edging out the right-wing Likud with 27. A poor showing was had by the Labor party, led by Ehud Barak, which only grabbed 13 seats.
Former Egyptian Ambassador to Israel Mohammed Bassiouny said that Egypt would be prepared to deal with any party that ends up heading the coalition government.
“The Israeli people pick their representative for office, not us. We deal with any government they choose. What’s important to me is not the person that will lead, but rather their willingness to take steps towards peace, he said.
What has already been ascertained is that the elections were a victory for Israel’s right wing parties, who have won the majority of the 120 seats in the Knesset; 65 seats went to the Israeli right even without recalling that the Kadima party, considered to be centrist, is a split from the right-wing Likud party.
“A victory by one seat doesn’t matter; the victory is for the right in the parliament, said Israeli affairs expert at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies Abdel-Aleem Mohammed.
Despite the fact that Kadima, led by Tzipi Livni, won the most seats, this does not mean that it will be chosen by President Shimon Peres to form the coalition government, or even that it will be able to form one without making concessions to the extreme right wing parties.
Livni met Wednesday with Avigdor Liberman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party – who has emerged as a potential king maker with his 15 seat victory in the case that Kadima and Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party are unable to agree on a unity government – to discuss the possibility of a coalition.
“They will probably attempt to form a unity government between Likud and Kadima and alternate the premiership, Mohammed said. “They might combine with Shas and they will try and avoid Liberman at all costs because his views are even more extreme than the other fringe right-wing parties.
What matters to Arab nations and the Palestinian Authority is the future of the peace process in the hands of the eventual Prime Minister. With the exception of Livni, none of the candidates support the two state solution or the road map.
“It doesn’t really matter who wins when it comes to the prospects of peace. All candidates have no intention of setting a specific timetable for the process or putting a stop to the building of illegal settlements, even Livni, Mohammed said.
Livni was the only candidate to even mention the peace process in her post-elections speech.
“Israel is a democracy and we are proud of our democracy. Israel has plural voices and they are all being heard in the Israeli Knesset and acting according to the law, Israeli embassy spokeswoman Shani Cooper-Zubida said.
Netanyahu is expected to offer Liberman the finance portfolio to bring him on board his coalition quickly and then offer Kadima the foreign affairs and defense portfolios.
So far Kadima has been adamant that it would not join a right-wing coalition, and has also dismissed the notion of a unity government with Likud which would see Livni and Netanyahu alternate the premiership.
Meanwhile, the right-wing religious parties spearheaded by Shas are attempting to form a bloc against Liberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu, which though undoubtedly right-wing does not have religious leanings. If the religious right manages to form a bloc, it would represent 16 seats, one more than what Liberman possesses.
“If Liberman manages to be part of the coalition government, it will be worse than any other combination, Mohammed said.
Bassiouny believes that as the right-wing parties gained the majority of seats, the government would be picked by them. However, a purely right-wing coalition would prove problematic to Israel.
“There is a right bloc and a leftist bloc, so the right bloc is an obstacle unless one of the right wing parties joins the centrist and leftist parties, which is unlikely, so it is the right that will choose, he said, “that leaves us with Netanyahu. Either he picks a right wing coalition which would invite pressure from the international community, or he could form a unity government with Kadima and Labor as well as right wing parties. He cannot assemble this coalition without an agreement on the issues.
