israeli elections

Likud has been absolutely trounced (hurrah!); Avoda/Labor made a decent showing, and Kadima is the new leader in whatever coalition will emerge. While I'm skeptical about Olmert and Kadima (their vision of disengagement/hikansut/'ingathering' does not involved the dismantlement of all settlements or a withdrawal to the Green Line per se), it's nonetheless heartening to see a defeat for the Right (with the exception of some smaller parties, like Yisrael Beiteniu, which is disturbing given its pro-transfer rhetoric) and a definite vote of approval for the disengagement process thus far: the settlers have lost their hold on Israeli politics. The Arab parties got 10% of the vote (and interestingly, 15% of the incoming Avoda/Labor delegation to the Knesset will be non-Jewish.) The Head Heeb, as always, has a thorough overview--if you are interested in Israel/Palestine politics (not to mention the politics of Africa and Oceania and other regions of the globe I know far too little about) you ought to be reading Jonathan Edelstein's rigorous and evenhanded analyses. I differ with some of his positions on the I/P matter, but always learn from what he has to say. And tonight I dearly hope he's correct: "We have just witnessed the beginning of the end of the occupation, and the continuation of Israel's journey back to itself. Ladies and gentlemen, the good guys won."

Head Heeb also had some good posts recently on the question of cross-border attempts to deal with bird flu in Israel/Palestine and on the new Hamas cabinet.