By Stan Goodenough
Feb 12, 2009
Israel's left-of-center Kadima Party's one-seat win in this week's general election was confirmed Thursday evening after the so-called "soldiers' votes" were finally tallied.
Following the final votes' count, reported The Jerusalem Post, "Kadima remained with 28 mandates, Likud followed with 27 mandates, Israel Beiteinu was the third biggest party with 15 mandates, and Labor won only 13 mandates."
The results exposed as wishful thinking the predictions of a number of optimists on the right that the votes of the soldiers would nudge Likud Leader Benjamin Netanyahu past Kadima's Tzipi Livni.
It brought into some question the equally hopeful predictions that "Bibi" - as Netanyahu is popularly known - will be the one to form the next Israeli government.
The next step in the stilted process will be the tapping by Israeli State President Shimon Peres of either Livni or Netanyahu to try and form a government.
Peres will be consulting with the other parties that won Knesset seats Tuesday to determine which of the two candidates is most likely to succeed.