Yahoos rising

In the Israeli election, it looks like the Likud rightist Benjamin Netanyahu has split the results with Kadima's Tzipi Livni. Livni was an instigator behind the recent Gaza Crisis, so it's not like her party is a great choice, but when compared to a Netanyahu administration... We might be looking the Israeli version of a neoconservative on steroids. Especially since Netanyahu has the best chance of working a power sharing agreement in the Knesset to become Prime Minister:

To get the president's mandate to form the next government, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has fewer seats than Tzipi Livni, will need to lock-down a majority of Knesset members, which means a coalition of:

Likud+Lieberman+Shas+various ultraOrthodox and ultraNationlist parties.

This he can almost certainly do, and, given his victory speech, intends to, although Lieberman and Shas despise one another.

Don't expect peace talks in the Holy Land any time soon. Meanwhile, I'll be rereading this in my free time.