WORLD> Middle East
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WORLD> Middle East
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Netanyahu, Livni declare win in Israeli election
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-11 08:03 If he chooses Livni, she would have to reach out to hard-liners. The elections were called after she failed to put together a ruling coalition when scandal-plagued Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced he was stepping down last fall.
Alternatively, Peres could turn to Netanyahu, who appeared to be in a better position to put together a majority. Netanyahu, who opposes giving up territory to make room for a Palestinian state, could find himself on a collision course with US President Barack Obama, who is promising an aggressive push for Mideast peace. Netanyahu says he would allow West Bank settlements to expand and is seen as likely to contemplate military action against Iran -- positions that could put him at odds with Obama.
The exit polls put Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu Party in third place behind Kadima and Likud -- ahead of Labor, the party that ruled Israel for decades. That gives Lieberman, who based his campaign on denying citizenship to Israeli Arabs he considers disloyal, a key role in coalition building. Livni would almost certainly not be able to form a government without his support. Lieberman said after the vote Tuesday night that he holds the key to forming the new Israeli government and would not rule out any alliance, though he added that he wanted a "nationalist right-wing government." "It is up to Lieberman who will form the next coalition," said Menachem Hofnung, a professor of political science at Hebrew University. "Lieberman has emerged as the kingmaker. He is the winner of these elections and it depends on who he sides with over the next few weeks as to who will be prime minister." Netanyahu, who was prime minister a decade ago, portrayed himself as the candidate best equipped to deal with the threats Israel faces -- Hamas militants in Gaza, Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and behind them an Iranian regime that Israel believes is developing nuclear weapons. He has derided the outgoing government's peace talks as a waste of time, and said relations with the Palestinians should be limited to developing their battered economy. Livni, who has led Israel's peace talks the past year, has pledged to continue the negotiations with the moderate Palestinian government in the West Bank. At the same time, she advocates a tough line against the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, and was one of the architects against a bruising Israeli military offensive in Gaza last month. At Likud headquarters, activists dismissed Kadima's edge and predicted Netanyahu would be tapped to form the next government. "I am certain that Netanyahu will be the next prime minister," said Likud lawmaker Gilad Erdan. "Netanyahu has a clear advantage because the right wing parties have a larger bloc. The test is not which party gets the most votes, but which candidate has the best chance to form a coalition, and that person is Benjamin Netanyahu." Israel's three main TV stations released exit polls as voting ended at 10 p.m. Tuesday. Channel One and Channel 10 each gave 30 of 120 parliament seats to Kadima and 28 seats to Netanyahu. Channel Two gave 29 seats to Kadima and 27 to Likud. Kadima lawmaker Haim Ramon predicted the party would lead the next government. "We are the only party that can approach both the right wing and the left," he told Channel 2 TV. But he acknowledged the results would make it difficult for anyone to govern. Israel's Palestinian peace partners in the West Bank said the next Israeli government would have to stop building in the West Bank before talks could resume. "We now have clear conditions for whoever heads the Israeli government," said Rafiq Husseini, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "The conditions for negotiations to resume begin with the immediate halt of settlement activities." Peace talks have not included the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers, who do not recognize Israel's right to exist and recently were the target of a devastating Israeli military offensive. In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the election results don't make a difference in the lives of Palestinians because Israel "is still working to eliminate the Palestinian existence. "Anyone who thinks that new faces might bring change is mistaken," Barhoum said, before the exit polls were released.
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