The Jerusalem Post has posted the results from the Channel 1 exit polls (click on the party name for a description from the existing Democracy page):

I will update the Democracy page in the next few days, but here's a quick analysis:

1) The big winners:

- Likud (center right) with 36 mandates (previously 19, improvement of 89%).
- Shinui (center) with 14 mandates (previously 6, improvement of 133%).

2) The big loosers:

- Labor (center left) with 18 mandates (previously 26, deterioration of 30%).
- Meretz (extreme left) with 5 mandates (previously 10, deterioration of 50%).

3) If we look at party blocks (used for coalition purposes):

- Right + Religious parties: 70 mandates
- Center parties: 17 mandates
- Left + Arab/Muslim parties: 33 mandates

In Israel, the terms 'right' and 'left' seldom refer to economics or the welfare system. 'Right' usually means approaching negotiations with suspicion and supporting settlements in the disputed lands. 'Left' means a good-hearted eagerness to negotiate with the Palestinians, an attitude that may be revived eventually but today is so unpopular that it seems almost quaint (as proven by the election results).

Sharon and his Likud party have won big time - Mitzna and his Labor party have suffered their worst defeat in the history of the State of Israel.

Basically this is the last nail on the coffin of the Oslo peace process and the talks at Camp David in October 2000 (see the history and Palestine pages for details). All of the parties who didn't admit that the violence and death of the past two years are the direct result of a conscious decision by Yasser Arafat and his thugs from the Palestinian Authority to turn to terror instead of peace have lost credibility and votes in the eyes of the Israeli public - the election results are clear.

Posted by David Melle
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