violence and the lowest turnout in the Jewish state’s history.
Official results gave his center right Kadima party 28 seats of the 120 seats in parliament, slightly lower than both opinion and exit polls predicted. Leftist Labor was the second-largest bloc, with 20 seats; the rightist Likud won 11 seats, the results showed.
The outcome made clear that voters had been turning away from conventional political parties in search for third parties with agendas ranging from pensioner rights to the legalization of marijuana. The aftermath will likely mean a period of difficult negotiations between Olmert and potential coalition partners, analysts say.
Standing below a massive portrait of his mentor Ariel Sharon, who has been in coma since suffering a stroke, Olmert told chanting Kadima supporters and reporters however that the parliamentary elections were a great moment in democracy, despite a low turnout of 63.2 percent. Some attributed the low turnout to questions over Kadima’s dominance in the election campaign.
But Olmert stressed "the results validate Ariel Sharon’s decision to move Israeli politics to the center" by forming Kadima late last year after breaking away from the Likud Party. He added that the dream of Israel existed for thousands of years and now it is time for Palestinians to compromise and reach an agreement which, he claimed, would also also fulfill Palestinian dreams of a state of their own.
ISRAEL’S "KADIMA"
"Today, Israeli democracy has spoken its piece, in a loud and clear voice," Olmert said. "Israel wants Kadima," which means forward in Hebrew. Labor leader Amirt Peretz and Likud chief Benjamin Netanyahu called Olmert to congratulate him, as did British Prime Minister Tony Blair, news reports said.
Olmert said also he was "looking toward Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem to the man who started it all, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He is still our prime minister."
Olmert stressed he was ready for new peace talks and was prepared to make painful compromises such as uprooting some Jewish settlements in the West Bank and allowing Palestinians to have a state. "[To the Palestinians…] We are prepared to compromise, give up parts of our beloved land of Israel, painfully remove Jews who live there, to allow you the conditions to achieve your hopes and to live in a state in peace and quiet."
But suggested that the Palestinians must be willing to compromise in return. "In the coming period, we will move to set the final borders of the state of Israel, a Jewish state with a Jewish majority," Olmert said. "We will try to achieve this in an agreement with the Palestinians. This is our hope and prayer."
HAMAS REJECTS
His speech made also clear however that Israel would not allow the thousands of Palestinian refugees uprooted by years of violence and wars to return. But the militant group Hamas, which last week announced a government without moderates, warned before Olmert gave his speech it would resist his plan as it would mean "a real liquidation of the Palestinian cause."
Under Olmert’s proposal, Israel’s partially completed West Bank separation barrier, expected to swallow about eight percent of the area, would become the new border by 2010, with some alterations.
Yet in a sign of more fictions within the Palestinian leadership, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas already said the Palestinian Liberation Organization was ready to negotiate immediately the implementation of the US-backed "road map" peace plan with the next Israeli government.
DIFFICULT TALKS
Analysts said however Olmert will have difficult negotiations to establish a broad coalition to achieve his political objective. Smaller parties reportedly did well including Yisrael Beiteinu, which gained at least 10 seats. A party made up of and largely supported by pensioners Yisrael Beiteinu is expected to give a Kadima-Labor government the majority it needs in parliament.
The biggest loser was Likud, which Sharon left to set up Kadima. "We have no doubt the Likud has suffered a tough blow," admitted Lukud leader and former Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. "I intend to continue along the path we have only just begun in order to ensure this movement is rehabilitated and takes its rightful place in the nation’s leadership," he stressed.
Yet among all Israeli politicians there seemed a sense of urgency among Israeli politicians to bring more security in the region, after at least four rockets fired into Israel from Palestinian territories killed two Israelis. In one rocket incident claimed by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad a father and his 16-year-old son, both Bedouin shepherds, were reportedly killed.
CHILDREN KILLED
In a separate incident several hours later, two Bedouin children were killed and a third critically injured an when unexploded bomb they were playing with went off in a military training zone in the south of the country, Arabic media reported.
The incident came as a setback for security officials who oversaw the deployment of 22,000 police forces patrolling the streets and key areas on Election Day. It also underscored the challenges ahead for whichever coalition will come to power.
Christian and Jewish groups in several parts of the world said earlier they have been praying for Israel’s security and future amid concerns over the future over the land of the Bible. (With BosNewsLife’s Chief International Correspondent Stefan J. Bos, BosNewsLife Research and reports from Israel).
