Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 02/13 Sonderausgabe zu den israelischen Parlamentswahlen vom 22. Januar 2013 1. Die Wahlen zur 19. Knesset ­Ergebnisse Aus den vorgezogenen Parlamentswahlen zur 19. Knesset ist das Parteienbündnis Likud-Yisrael Beitenu unter der Führung von Premier Netanyahu mit 31 Sitzen als stärkste Kraft hervorgegangen. Allerdings gewann das Bündnis 11 Mandate weniger als bei den Wahlen 2009, zu denen sie getrennt angetreten waren. Den zweiten Platz mit 19 Sitzen erzielte überraschend Politikneuling und Ex­Journalist Yair Lapid mit seiner neugegründeten Partei Yesh Atid. Die Arbeitspartei erreichte unter Führung von Shelly Yacimovich mit 15 Mandaten nur den dritten Platz. Tzipi Livnis neue Partei Hatnuah und die linke Partei Meretz erhielten jeweils sechs Sitze, während die nationalreligiöse Partei Habayit Hayehudi unter Naftali Bennett, der im Vor­feld großer Erfolg vorausgesagt wurde, 12 Sitze gewann. Kadima, die 2009 noch die stärkste Kraft im Parlament gewesen war, stürzte auf nur noch zwei Mandate ab. Man of the past " Israel[…] expressed no confidence in[…] Neta n­yahu. After four years a t the country’s helm, together with his natural partner, MK Avigdor Lieberman, Netanyahu lost about a quarter of his strength de­spite − or perhaps because of − the merger with Lieberman.[…] He has failed in the political sphere, the foreign policy sphere and the socioeconomic sphere. His failure is a failure of leadership[…]. Netanyahu plunged[…] because the Israeli public felt that his government had not understood the deeper significance of the protests of the summer of 2011. The results show that the public balked at the right- wing radicalization of Likud.[…] The isolation into which Netanyahu and Lieberman led Israel worried the voters." HAA 23.01.13 Editorial Netanyahu's mistake and opportunity "The people continue to prefer the path of the Right. All that happened was that the 28 seats that Kadima had in the 18th Knesset were dispersed, mostly to Lapid’s Yesh Atid, rather than to The Tzipi Livni Party or Labor. At least half of those who voted for Lapid define themselves as on the Right of the political spec­trum.[…] When you analyze the voting patterns among Israe­lis, what stands out most is that young people aban­doned the Likud.[…] The stagnati on in the Likud’s candidates list put people off; new and relevant faces did not appear. The youth were drawn in re­cent months to Naftali Bennett’s Bayit Yehudi party." Ronen Shoval, JPO 24.01.13 And the loser is – the victor "Netanyahu not only failed to strengthen Likud, he led to its regression.[…] It is not only that most of the public did not vote for him – he lost the faith of some Likud voters as well. So how did he still manage to win? The reason for this is that three prime ministers who served since 1999- Barak, Sharon and Olmert – had to give up their posts unexpectedly. Netanyahu suddenly be­came the only prominent figure in the political arena. The emerging leaders – Lapid, Yachimovich and Bennett – have yet to succeed in creating a public image of potential candidates for prime minister." Baruch Leshem, JED 23.01.13 Prepare for the next elections "The big winner benefiting from the Likud-Beitenu union is Lieberman who knows that breaking it will leave Netanyahu without a majority.[…] Lieberman is holding Netanyahu on a very short leash. The defeated Bibi will not have any base from which to exert a commanding role." Yoel Marcus, HAA 25.01.13 1