Israeli Election Day Coverage – Liveblogging

The pollling stations opened at 7.00AM Israel time.

I will be providing updates during the day.

11.50PM: I’m calling it a night. I hope you enjoyed the Israellycool coverage of the elections today. See you again tomorrow.

11.45PM: Bibi is staying on as Likud leader.

11.40PM: According to the Ha’aretz news ticker, former Labor leader and PM Ehud Barak has congratulated Amir Peretz, saying “I congratulate Amir Peretz for preserving Labor`s strength.” The cynic (realist) in me wonders what Barak wants from Peretz.

11.35PM: Boy, did the Diaspora Jews get it wrong.

11.20PM: Alan Abbey has live-blogged some of the party’s reactions to the results (while I was off trying to keep myself awake).

Bibi (Likud): “We have no doubt Likud has taken a bad hit….Our former leader (AA: Ariel Sharon – not mentioned by name) left us…and left us in a hard place with a lot of hard work to do….Likud’s job is to save the country.”

Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu, one of tonight’s winners): “I want to bless all our workers, friends, all the people who came to help us with this victory…. New immigrants and veterans, religious and secular….Next time we’ll lead the government.”

11.15PM: The major conclusions to be drawn from the election (Ynet):
– Kadima will likely form the next government, but would not be as powerful as it had hoped
– The Likud has collapsed, and may end up as the fifth-largest party overall
– Avigdor Lieberman’s Israel Our Home has become the third largest party
– The Pensioners’ party scored a major surprise with a much higher total than expected
– The 17th Knesset may be one of the most split ones in history and would likely feature a fragile coalition

11.05PM: Definitely a victory for the center-left bloc, with 62-66 seats, while the Right got 48-51. I have to say that I did not pick it; I thought that the Right would do far better. The big surprises were the relatively good showing of Labor, the magnitude of Likud’s fall from grace, and the performance of the Pensioner’s party.

11.02PM: The voter turnout rate was 63.2%, the lowest ever.

11.00PM: Vital Perspective have the full exit poll comparisons in table form.

10.00PM: Here are the exit poll results:
Channel 2 exit poll: Kadima 32 seats, Labor 22, Likud 11
Channel 1 exit poll: Kadima 29 seats, Labor 22, Yisrael Beiteinu 14
Channel 10 exit poll: Kadima 31 seats, Labor 20, Likud 12

9.45PM: Channel 1 are saying that Labor’s Amir Peretz may be the surprise of the elections.

9.38PM: We interrupt this election coverage to report that the dreaded bird flu has been found on a Kibbutz near Jerusalem.

9.35PM: Bad results likely for Likud, as Likud officials are already saying that they will investigate the “fall” of the party (Hebrew link).

9.25PM: Kadima officials acknowledge that they may have to give portfolios to Labor candidates (Hebrew link). This is an indication that Labor will likely be part of the coalition.

9.18PM: Channel 1 reported that 25,000 people visited nature reserves in the north today.

9.10PM: Now a voting message from Ramallah.

9.00PM: I just heard someone over a loudspeaker outside my house. I wasn’t sure whether he was imploring people to vote or not to vote.

8.55PM: Remember the busload of right wing activists headed for Nazareth, who were detained? (see 5.00PM update). Arutz Sheva report that they intended to try to prevent ballot-stuffing in areas that have been accused of such in the past.

8.52PM: Take it from me. These will be the first people to bitch and moan when the government’s composition is not as they like.

8.45PM: More panic from the “big” parties: now Labor are sending out emails, imploring people to vote (Hebrew link). So if you get an email from “Amir Peretz”, don’t immediately write it off as a type of Nigerian scam email.

8.28PM:

Israeli television is reporting that by 8PM, there was only 57% voter

turnout – still the lowest in Israeli election history (compared to

62.8% at this time in the 2003 elections).

8.22PM: More details

on the Katyusha attack from Gaza. The rocket was 122 millimeters in

diameter, and was fired from northern Gaza, landing south of Ashkelon.

This is the first time that a terror organization in Gaza has used this

type of Katyusha rocket in an attack. I think the terrorists are trying

to tell us something here.

By the way, the Katyusha originates from Iran. Just saying.

8.17PM:

Palestinians are still trying to boost the Right bloc parties: Security

officials have stated that palestinians have fired the first Katyusha

from Gaza (AP).

8.15PM: Ha’aretz report

that Kadima has had to send “activists to aid Russian immigrant voters

in distinguishing between Kadima’s ballot symbol and the similar symbol

of the pro-marijuana legalization Green Leaf party.” Cool, man.

8.05PM: This Hebrew report says that tens of the anti-Zionist Charedim are fighting tens of Gur Hasidim

who support the elections, in Ramat Beit Shemesh. If I had the patience

to be stuck in traffic, I would go over there now and see it first hand.

8.02PM: The Elections Committee predict that if the trend continues, voter turnout will not exceed 60% (it was 68.9% in the 2003 elections). 

8.00PM: There are still anti-Zionist “ultra-Orthodox” people blocking the entrance to polling stations in Beit Shemesh.

7.52PM: You can now add “web site hacking” to the reported election-related incidents. A hacker has broken into the Shas website (Hebrew link).

7.50PM: 54% of IDF soldiers have voted so far.

7.48PM:

Driving in to Beit Shemesh tonight, there was a lot of congestion

around the polling stations. I predict that there will be a lot of last

minute voting; whether or not it raises the voter turnout rate above

that of the last elections is another story.

7.45PM: And here’s another report on the rise of the Gil party.

7.40PM: Power to the pensioners: one of the big stories that could come out of this election could be the success of Gil (Pensioner’s Party).

7.30PM: As of 6PM, the voter turnout rate was 47% (compared to 52.8% at this time in the 2003 elections). 

6.05PM:

More good news for the Right bloc: According to the Ha’aretz news

ticker, the Yesha Council leader expects 80-90% voter turnout among

“settlers.”

6.00PM: YNet (Hebrew) reports

that the prisoner voter turnout is at 77%, way above the general voter

turnout. Maybe prisoners appreciate their rights more. (Arutz Sheva

have a conflicting report).

5.55PM: Allison comments on a report about

the many Israeli Arabs not voting: “The stupidest non-voters, in my

opinion, are Israeli Arabs. So you feel powerless and helpless and

downtrodden. Is the smart move to take the tiny little bit of power and

influence you have and throw it away? I don’t think so.”

5.40PM: You can now add “fraudulent voting” to the reported election-related incidents. If that happened to me, I would be well and truly pissed.

5.20PM: Kadima and Likud are trading barbs.

Kadima: Likud are conspiring to hide Kadima slips at the polling stations; Likud: Kadima are a big bunch of liars.

5.10PM: Pollster Rafi Smith says that he expects polling to pick up between 5PM and 8PM, the so-called “hotter” hours for voting.

5.00PM: 45 “right-wing” activists on a bus headed to the mostly Arab town of Nazareth have been detained.

They claimed that they were election monitors headed for Nazareth

polling stations; given that they did not have the requisite election

monitor papers, no doubts hilarity would have ensued had they reached

their destination.

4.50PM: You can now add “dummy bomb” to the reported election-related incidents.

4.20PM: Ynet (Hebrew) reports that the turnout is 39%.

4.15PM: Now we know where all the voters are.

4.05PM: There have been 130 election-related “incidents” so far.

4.00PM:

Speaking with work colleagues, the feeling is that Avigdor Lieberman’s

Yisrael Beiteinu party is going to fair very well. The consensus is

that he may get as many as 15 seats. This positive outloook is

reinforced by this report.

 

If so, Kadima may well have to look to the Right bloc to form a coalition.

3.25PM: The low voter turnout has sparked Kadima to send out SOS SMS messages.

3.10PM: More unrest in Ramat Beit Shemesh,

literaly down the road from where I live, as “Charedim”

(ultra-Orthodox) tried to block the polling stations. From the reports

I have seen, these people are part of an anti-Zionist sect who oppose

the State of Israel, much like the Neturei Karta who were recently seen

visiting the President of Iran.

2.55PM: By 2.00PM, voter turnout was still the lowest in Israeli election history – 30.9% compared to 35.3% in 2003.

1.55PM: There have already been a number of inter-party smackdowns today. So much for the elections being boring..

1.50PM: Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu has said that he will remain Likud Chairman, regardless of the election results.

1.30PM: Islamic Jihad have placed their vote for a right-wing government.

12.45PM: 21.7% voter turnout

by noon. This is a vast improvement on the turnout by 10.00AM, which

was a mere 9.9%, but still 3% less than at the same time during

the 2003 elections.

12:40PM: Forget the polls. The “Milkman”

has spoketh. And while he predicts that Kadima will win, he also

predicts that the national-religious camp will do well, causing

headaches for Olmert. Certainly in my neighborhood, many people seemed

to be voting for national-religious parties.

12:30PM: Wow, Yigal Amir voted, this time without using a gun. Lovely.

12.10PM: I guess this occurred at a different polling station than the one I voted at in Beit Shemesh.

12.00PM: Voter turnout by 10.00AM was the lowest in Israeli history. When I cast mine over an hour ago, I noticed that the lines were relatively short.

8.40AM: We are set to go and vote within the next half hour.