The Big Loser in Israel's Elections

By Michael Medved

The elections in Israel provided no clear winner: both Benjamin Netanyahu of the rightist Likud Party and Tzipi Livni of the more centrist Kadima Party emerged as potential choices for Prime Minister. But there was a clear loser in the high-turnout balloting: the once powerful Israeli left totally collapsed and lost nearly half its seats in Parliament. For the first 30 years of Israel's history, the explicitly socialist Labor Party controlled the government without interruption. But this time, Labor finished a feeble fourth--with barely 10 percent of the total votes, badly trailing three factions that favored a tougher line on dealing with Israel's enemies.

While the United States drifts away from conservative principles under the Obama administration, a clear majority emerged in Israel hoping that government's role in the economy will shrink, not expand, and demanding that terrorism should be confronted and defeated, not appeased or ignored.