Olmert Claims Israel Victory, Looks for Partners

With 99.7 percent of polling stations accounted for, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima Party looks set to take 28 of 120 seats in parliament, the Israel Election Commission reported early Wednesday. Although it won the most seats of any party, the outcome was far less than what opinion polls had forecast ahead of the ballot.

Olmert, who shot to power only 12 weeks ago when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke, campaigned on a plan to dismantle dozens of settlements and remove tens of thousands of Jews from the West Bank. Even though a majority of the Members of Parliament (MP) favors some kind of pullout from the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel for nearly 40 years, Olmert will be hard pressed to find a suitable coalition partner to achieve his ambitious goal of separating from the Palestinians and establishing the final borders of the Jewish state.

Possible partners

The center-left Labor Party, predicted to emerge as the second force in parliament, garnered 20 seats. It now looks forward to extracting social and economic concessions in exchange for joining the government with Kadima. Led by Amir Peretzs, the party has also made clear it would prefer a negotiated solution with the Palestinians to unilateral steps as favored by Kadima.

Between them Kadima and Labor lack enough seats to form a majority on their own and will have to look for partners among some of the smaller factions, including the fledgling Pensioners' List and the left-wing, secular Meretz party. Olmert will also most likely have to bring in the parliament's two ultra-Orthodox factions to secure enough seats in his coalition.

The possible inclusion of he two religious parties Shas and United Torah Judaism could make the coalition difficult as the two will likely want to ensure religious Jews maintain the benefits and privileges so despised by Meretz and unpopular with Labor.

However, Robert Rosenberg of Haaretz newspaper told AFP news sources that Olmert "can rapidly form a relatively stable coalition, with the core comprised of Kadima, Labor and the Pensioners, with Meretz, United Torah Judaism and possibly Shas on board."

Redrawing Israel's borders

What has become clear in the hours following the election is that the nationalist right that has dominated power since 1977 will be frozen out of the next government after Likud, the traditional champion of the right, suffered a crushing defeat.

"The strength of Kadima has managed to destroy the right wing. These elections are seen first and foremost as a referendum on the partitioning of land," said political commentator Ari Shavit on Israel's Channel One television.

When all possible cooperating parties are taken together, those supporting a withdrawal from the West Bank and a permanent definition of Israel's borders outweigh the opponents from the far-right. "This plan has close to 80 seats. Two thirds of the people! That's the most dramatic thing that happened," boasted incoming Kadima MP Haim Ramon after televisions published their exit polls.

"The left is now two-thirds of the Knesset. If Olmert has the courage, he can dismantle the settlements and make peace and retreat, as he wants. He has tremendous power in the Knesset," said Arab Israeli MP Abdel Malek Dehamsheh.