Israel Gets A New Government

According to the Jerusalem Post the new Prime Minister will be Binyamin Netanyahu.

A day after Kadima leader Tzipi Livni and Netanyahu each declared victory in Tuesday's election, they both began a race against time to form a coalition on paper before President Shimon Peres started the process of appointing one of them to build a government next week.

Netanyahu and Livni both met with the leader of what has become the third largest party, Israel Beiteinu's Avigdor Lieberman, in an attempt to woo him. But Lieberman raised several demands that either prime ministerial candidate would have a hard time accepting.

Livni appointed a coalition negotiating team of five top Kadima ministers and MKs and the party will continue with its political horse-trading in an effort to persuade Peres to let Livni form a government.

But privately, senior Kadima officials said they were well aware that Peres would ask Netanyahu to form a government because of the Right bloc's 65-55 advantage over the Left, and that if Likud offered Kadima a sweet deal, they should take it.

In parliamentary politics coalitions are made after elections. In American politics coalitions are made before the elections. I like our system better. It may just be because it is what I know.

What are the geopolitical implications? Europe and Israel have moved to the Right, America to the left. In other words the frictions in international politics will continue.