Arlene Kushner On How To View Results of Israel Election -- Is The Right Weaker?

From Arlene Kushner:
January 24, 2013

A Different Perspective

Today I would like to revisit issues surrounding the election results that I discussed yesterday (with thanks to political consultant Ruthie L).

On at least one occasion, following the pattern of the media, I alluded to the "Center-Left" bloc of parties as versus the Right-Religious bloc of parties.  But, in fact, this is a misleading way of conceptualizing the situation.

More accurately, there is the Left. And there is the Right.  Both of which are likely to be ideological.  And then there are parties that are centrist: neither left nor right ideologically but drawing a bit from each on various issues and more likely pragmatic. 

The way the media had it, the Center-Left and the Right were about equal in number of mandates acquired (excluding the fact that the Arab parties were factored in on the Left).  This leads to the conclusion that the Right has gotten weaker -- or, conversely, that the Left has gotten stronger.  Which impression the left-leaning media are quite content to convey.

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The Israel Project: Yesh Atid In Videos and Photos

January 23, 2013 Contact: TIP Press: press@theisraelproject.org Main Office Phone Number:  202-857-6644 TIP Press Release: Yesh Atid -- Israel's Breakout Party -- In Videos and Photos The broad contours of Israel’s January 22 election were in line with months of polling predictions, even as the specifics of the race were shaken by the surprising late surge of the centrist party Yesh Atid. As polls projected, the voting was divided roughly evenly between a center-right bloc anchored by a dominant Likud-Beitenu slate and a fractured center-left. Incumbent Likud Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will almost certainly be asked to form Israel’s next coalition government, and the third place Labor party is likely to lead the opposition. The surprise of the evening was the success of the new, centrist Yesh Atid party, which found itself with enough votes to become Israel’s second-largest party. Only recently created by former journalist Yair Lapid, Yesh Atid’s success has triggered a wave of interest in the group and its positions.