the majority of the nation will always be pissed off and hate the party in office. At least close to 50% of our nation feels vindicated on election night.

and frankly, there is no such thing as getting everything you want out of a political party. There are too many thousands of options and extrapolations for the make up of a party platform. NO ONE EVER gets their unicorn that shits glittery rainbows. This attempt to state that one of those 12 parties is a perfect fit is actually pretty ludicrous.

I think it would be better to nudge, mold and encourage our selected party, by picking officials that have the ideals we want.

It's like saying that because there is unlikely to be a car on the market that perfectly accommodates my preferences, that therefore I should have to choose between only two cars. I am still going to be happier choosing from twelve alternatives rather than two.

You're not a Hillary fan by chance?

The Democratic party is a corrupt institution run by the 1% for the benefit of the 1%. The Republican party is also a corrupt institution run by the 1% for the 1%, with a little bit of fundy spice sprinkled over the top to give it a little extra bitterness.

Here's the difference with that multi party system. No party has a majority. In order to elect a PM, the parties have to join together to form a coalition. In order to get that coalition, the dominant party in that coalition is going to have to make concessions to the other parties before they will join up with them.

What's that mean for voters? It means that, if you're in a small party that only gets 5% of the vote, the bigger party is going to need your parties support to maintain power. Even though you're in a fairly small party, you get represented at a national level. That doesn't happen in the American system, where minority voters simply get used for their votes, and are ignored until the next election comes around and the next round of browbeating begins.

Imagine how much better the U.S. would be if the Democratic party had to make concessions to a Labor party and a Green party in order to maintain power.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-Elections/First-exit-polls-show-tight-race-between-Herzog-and-Netanyahu-394224

Not that it matters all that much.

Hard to pick. My guess would be Likud, kulanu, jewish home, yisrael beteinu, yesh atid as most likely coalition, but that is still extremely unlikely.

Alternatively, meretz, shas, kulanu, yesh, Zionist Union on the left, with covert support from the joint list.

From what I understand from friends in Israel, The Jewish Home (הַבַּיִת הַיְהוּדִי, HaBayit HaYehudi) is actually a racist ultra-orthodox ultra-RW ultranationalist party.

Israel for the Jewish people and only the Jewish people. That kind of thing.

http://www.wikiwand.com/en/The_Jewish_Home

Habayit got 8 seats.....looks like a Unity government?

Which is only fitting, since Israel is an extremely rightwing country.

Likud did a lot better in the actual voting than the polls predicted.

He won.

Israel has voted for apartheid.

Who will be asked first to give it a try?

I am sure someone will add up the numbers shortly but the President is already calling for a Unity government.

Right now there are only exit polls.

Israel's Netanyahu declares victory in tight race

Mar 17th 2015 4:57PM

JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared victory after a tight national election appeared to give him the upper hand in forming the country's next coalition government.

In a statement released on Twitter, Netanyahu says that "against all odds" his Likud party and the nationalist camp secured a "great victory."

Initial exit polls showed Netanyahu's Likud Party deadlocked with the center-left Zionist Union.

But the results indicated that Netanyahu will have an easier time cobbling together a majority coalition with hard-line and religious allies.

Netanyahu said he had already begun to call potential partners.

http://www.aol.com/article/2015/03/17/israels-netanyahu-declares-victory-in-tight-race/21154563/?icid=maing-grid7|

12:16 P.M. Zionist Union Chairman Isaac Herzog on the exit polls: "These results will bring Labor back into power." He calls on the "social parties" to unite under him to form "a real reconciliation government."

"This is a big victory for the Labor Party, which hasn't done this well since Yitzhak Rabin won in 1992."

Referring to his efforts to from a governing coalition, Herzog says "no decision will be made tonight. We have formed a negotiating team." (Haaretz)

Can a Jewish party accept coalition with the Arabs?

ZU probably can't do it while getting enough other partners to get from 40 (total combined seats of ZU and Joint List) to 61.

Also, one of those Arab MKs would be Haneen Zoabi, she won't sit in coalition with any Zionist party and no Zionist party would sit in coalition with her.

are or should be proof or dispositive of anything? I don't get it.