Subscribe to Print Edition | Fri., February 13, 2009 Shvat 19, 5769 | | Israel Time: 01:31 (EST+7)   Back to Homepage web haaretz.com Haaretz Toolbar Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Haaretz Magazine Business Real Estate Joy of Giving Travel Week's End Anglo File

Entire political system shifting rightward By Shahar Ilan Tags: Israel News  40 percent of Kadima's voters chose party in final 3 days How did the right grow by 15 seats while Kadima maintained its strength? The entire political system has shifted rightward, it turns out. Labor, the Pensioners Party and Meretz lost a total of 16 seats. Many Kadima voters also moved rightward, but they were replaced by new voters from the left. That is how the right swelled to 56 seats, while the leftist Zionist parties were left with only 16 Knesset members. Statistician Rafi Smith of the Smith Institute says that left-wing voters supported prime ministerial hopeful Tzipi Livni and not her party, Kadima. Forty percent of people who voted for Kadima decided to do so during the last two or three days of the campaign. Advertisement "Livni took a third of Labor's voters and more than a third of Meretz's voters. She attracted the entire left," said Smith. This can be seen among the kibbutzim as well, where Kadima got 31 percent of the vote, compared to only 30.5 percent for Labor. Meanwhile, a quarter of the people who voted for Likud had originally supported Kadima. Voter turnout was 65.2 percent, almost two percent higher than in the 2006 elections. In practice, turnout was more than 70 percent, because 10 to 12 percent of the people on the electoral rolls are abroad, Smith said. Smith called the election results "a total victory for the right," noting that 43 percent of Jewish Israelis consider themselves right-wing or center-right, another 24 percent consider themselves centrist, and only 18 percent consider themselves left-wing or center-left. About half of Yisrael Beiteinu's votes came from immigrants. The party garnered only 15 or 16 seats - not the 17 to 18 predicted by opinion surveys - because veteran Israelis jumped ship at the last minute. In peripheral communities, Lieberman's party attracted 21 percent of the vote, while Shas drew 17 percent. With regard to the Israeli Arab vote, fears of an electoral boycott proved to be unfounded, even though turnout was down slightly. Regardless, Arab parties might actually find themselves with a larger Knesset presence, from 10 to 11 seats. This is because many Arab voters shifted their support from Jewish to Arab parties, as well as the large number of Jews who voted for Hadash due to the popularity of Jewish MK Dov Khenin. Bookmark to del.icio.us   How Israel voted See Israel election results by city/sector. Israeli cover girls Israeli model Bar Refaeli lands Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover.

Read & React U.S.: Obama to push forth peace, regardless of who leads Israel Responses: 62 Israel Harel: In this election, Israel's left got what it deserved Responses: 41 Gideon Levy: Does Zionism legitimize every act of violence? Responses: 66 Abbas urges world to isolate Likud like it does Hamas Responses: 52 More Headlines 23:58 Hamas: Egypt to announce Gaza truce in 2 days 19:15 Two Israeli Druze jailed for spying for Syria 23:33 Final election results: Kadima 28 seats, Likud 27, Yisrael Beiteinu 15 22:36 Likud blasts Kadima's victory declaration as 'pathetic' 19:05 Noam Shalit tells Blair: This may be last chance to free my son 22:10 Egypt: Secretary of State Clinton to attend Gaza donors meet in Cairo 22:18 U.K. bans Dutch politician over film condemning Koran 23:43 Israel warns of harsh response to any attack by Hezbollah 21:55 Algerian-born man admits to firebombing of Jewish targets in Montreal 23:28 WATCH: Brad Pitt as Nazi hunter in Quentin Tarantino's latest film 20:33 Shas seeks ultra-Orthodox bloc to counter Lieberman 18:49 Australia Jews mobilize to aid victims of wildfires 12:11 Sheetrit: Kadima won't join far-right government 15:07 Pope tells Jewish leaders Holocaust denial is 'intolerable' 14:40 White House: Obama to push peace process, regardless of Israel leader 17:41 WATCH: Israeli TV show depicts Lieberman as Darth Vader-esque dictator 10:54 Lieberman: I've made up my mind between Livni, Netanyahu 16:00 Mohammad Khatami criticizes rival Ahmadinejad over Iran's isolation 22:46 U.S. Senator Kerry to meet with Syrian President Assad next week 20:32 Irish trade unionists plan boycott of Israeli goods in aftermath of Gaza op 17:40 Iraq MPs seek reparation for 1981 Israeli attack on nuclear reactor Previous Editions Select Day 12 feb 11 feb 10 feb 09 feb 08 feb 06 feb 05 feb 04 feb 03 feb 02 feb 01 feb 30 jan

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