Israel elections Labour lose one seat Arab parties gain one

In an unexpected move Arab Israeli parties had demanded a recount of ballots in some Arab dominated towns.The results from five polling stations were logged incorrectly, a press release by the Central Election Commission said.

The United Arab List will now have 4 seats, giving Arab parties a total of 10 seats, and reduce Lanour's seats by one to 19.

On Sunday, Israel's president On Sunday, Israel's president began meetings with the main political parties on who should form a government following the general election.The President will name a leader to put together the next ruling coalition.Only 63.2 percent of Israel's roughly 5 million eligible voters cast ballots.

This revised result may make it more difficult for Olmert to form a coalition as he would not be able to rely on centre-left Jewish parties alone for a majority in the parliament.

However Olmert , a 60-year-old lawyer and former Jerusalem mayor,is currently not anticipated to have any problems in forming a coalition government, which it is expected is going to take up to six weeks.


FINAL REVISED RESULTS of ISRAELI ELECYION as of 3/4//06

1. Kadima: 29 seats, centrist (?)

2. Labour: 19 seats, centre-left

3. Shas: 12 seats, ultra-Orthodox
4. Pensioners: 7 seats, single-issue led by man who ran US spy Pollard
5. Torah Judaism: 6 seats, ultra-Orthodox
6. Meretz: 5 seats, left-wing

7. Israel Beitenu: 11 seats, Russian emigres, far-far-far-far-right

Avigdor Lieberman, a gravel-voiced settler, originally from Moldovia,Lieberman's plans to re-draw Israel's borders along ethnic lines. He proposes a new frontier between Israel and Palestine, forcing some 500,000 Arabs, who are now citizens of Israel, inside the Palestinian territories. Lieberman brushes aside the charges leveled against him of ethnic cleansing. "I’m pragmatic, that’s all," retorts Lieberman, a wide-faced man with a cropped beard, whose party, Yisrael Beiteinu ("Israel, Our Home"), won 11 seats, mainly from Israel’s 900,000 Russian immigrants. "I don’t believe in co-existence," he says. "We can be neighbors, but we can’t live in one home."

8. Likud: 12 seats, right-wing
9. Arab parties: 10 seats