Post by Charles Martel on Feb 9, 2009 18:42:34 GMT
Key facts about Israel's election
WHAT'S AT STAKE: Voters will elect a 120-member parliament, or Knesset, Israel's 18th.
Citizens vote for party lists, not individual candidates. Seats are allocated in the Knesset according to the percentage of the vote the parties win.
WHO'S RUNNING: Thirty-three parties are fielding candidates. Key parties are the governing Kadima Party, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians and a supporter of conciliation with the Arab world; Likud, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, a former prime minister who takes a hard line against the Palestinians, and Labor, headed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, another former premier and a retired army chief who won widespread public approval for his role as point man in Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas in Gaza last month. Small parties include Green Leaf, which supports the legalization of marijuana, the Pensioners Party, Arab parties and a joint venture of moderate Orthodox Jews and environmentalists. Few, if any. are expected to win representation.
A party must receive at least 2 percent of votes cast to be represented in parliament.
In the 2006 election, 31 parties registered to run but only 12 won enough votes to win seats.
More at: International Herald Tribune
Happy voting, Israel. In an election dominated by security concerns, it looks like Binyamin Netanyahu and his allies are going to win.
Incidently, this brings me to another point. I perfectly understand why security is absolutely paramount in Israel. Given that is the case, why doesn't Israel consider accepting annexation by the United States? If it did, the next time Muslims try to invade Israel, the US will be *absolutely obliged* to defend it (now a US state!) using all possible means at its disposal, including the last resort of nuclear weapons. On the other hand, control over Jerusalem and its holy sites - along with a permanent physical foothold in a geopolitically important region - will please American conservatives. And from the point of view of Jews living in Israel and America, they will naturally retain all rights to their holy sites (rights that were denied during Muslim rule). Finally, the demographic timebomb will be permanently defused - how can Muslims possibly compete with 300 million Americans, vast majority are Christians on the side of Jews against 9/11-celebrating "Palestinian" Muslims?
WHAT'S AT STAKE: Voters will elect a 120-member parliament, or Knesset, Israel's 18th.
Citizens vote for party lists, not individual candidates. Seats are allocated in the Knesset according to the percentage of the vote the parties win.
WHO'S RUNNING: Thirty-three parties are fielding candidates. Key parties are the governing Kadima Party, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians and a supporter of conciliation with the Arab world; Likud, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, a former prime minister who takes a hard line against the Palestinians, and Labor, headed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, another former premier and a retired army chief who won widespread public approval for his role as point man in Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas in Gaza last month. Small parties include Green Leaf, which supports the legalization of marijuana, the Pensioners Party, Arab parties and a joint venture of moderate Orthodox Jews and environmentalists. Few, if any. are expected to win representation.
A party must receive at least 2 percent of votes cast to be represented in parliament.
In the 2006 election, 31 parties registered to run but only 12 won enough votes to win seats.
More at: International Herald Tribune
Happy voting, Israel. In an election dominated by security concerns, it looks like Binyamin Netanyahu and his allies are going to win.
Incidently, this brings me to another point. I perfectly understand why security is absolutely paramount in Israel. Given that is the case, why doesn't Israel consider accepting annexation by the United States? If it did, the next time Muslims try to invade Israel, the US will be *absolutely obliged* to defend it (now a US state!) using all possible means at its disposal, including the last resort of nuclear weapons. On the other hand, control over Jerusalem and its holy sites - along with a permanent physical foothold in a geopolitically important region - will please American conservatives. And from the point of view of Jews living in Israel and America, they will naturally retain all rights to their holy sites (rights that were denied during Muslim rule). Finally, the demographic timebomb will be permanently defused - how can Muslims possibly compete with 300 million Americans, vast majority are Christians on the side of Jews against 9/11-celebrating "Palestinian" Muslims?
