Israeli Elections: Part Two

Final Outcome...

Kadima: 28
(Former party of Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister until he suffered a stroke and slipped into a coma. He defected from the Likud party last fall. Ehud Olmert, acting Prime Minister as a result of Sharon's ill state, is now the legitimate leader of the country. Most people seem to think he's as boring as humanly possible. Kadima was originally polling at 44 seats and although still the winner, 28 knesset seats is pretty pathetic.

Labor: 20
Headed by Amir Peretz, the Labor party represents the main-stream left wing of Israel. Peretz is mostly known for his Stalin-like mustache and most people don't seem to take him too seriously. Of course, he now heads the second biggest party in the knesset, so who knows?

Shas: 13
As I understand it (which by no way means it's true), Shas is a quasi-religious party founded by Sephardic Jews who thought they were being discriminated against by Ashkenazi Jews. No, that does not mean Germans. If you're really confused, just email me.

Israel Our Home: 12
The party of the Russian Immigrant. Originally supporters of the National Union party, then supporters of Likud when Sharon was still a member, then supporters of Kadima when Sharon was still conscious, these former USSRers are new to the scene and their strong showing was quite a shock. No one has any idea what to make of it.

Likud: 11
The disaster party. After Sharon's defection this party had trouble keeping its pants from falling around its ankles and tripping on the stairs at the entrance to the Knesset Prom. Lead by former Prime Minister Bebe Netanyahu, Likud was once one of the most powerful parties in the country. Now, they're sort of the right-wing red-headed step child the whole family enjoys beating to a bloody pulp.

National Union-NRP: 9
National Religious Party. If you like God, a lot, cast your ballot here. Or so I'm told.

Pensioners Party: 7
Never before have the old people held a Knesset seat and here they are with 7 of them. Some say it was a protest vote. If so, it seems that the geriatric crowd was protesting an early death by boredom brought on by lousy candidates from other parties.

United Torah Judaism: 6
Ultra-Orthodox party. To vote here you not only have to like God a lot, you have to be willing to wear an all black suit and black hat every day. In the desert.

Meretz: 4
By far the party with the best posters, this party featured the leaders of other parties and the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil monkeys. Classic! Oh yeah, and they're left-wingers...

Arab parties:10
Funny, I couldn't really find any information on this party. Seems they represent some group of dissaffected individuals who aren't thrilled with the current state of affairs in the region. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine...

So, 120 seats filled in a Knesset that now has its work cut out for it. Good night & good luck.