Israeli Exit Polls Project Livini's Kadima As Winnter

Israel's Haaretz is projecting Tzipi Livini of the "centrist" Kadima Party as the winner in today's election. Overall, the new math for Israel's Knesset, is projected as Kadima having won 29 seats, while Bibi Netenyahu's Likud Party doubled their total with 27 seats and Ehud Barak's Labor fell all the way back to 14 seats. Truthfully, none of the options were very good but Ehud Barak and Labor were the best of bad options. It is dismaying that Israel's once proud Labor Party was so thoroughly routed. The political left in Israel is a distant memory.

Please note that Israeli exit polls are notoriously unreliable. Hence, the homicidal Netenyahu may still prevail. If Livini is the victor, she will likely struggle to cobble a coalition of centrist parties together. Alas, if Netenyahu prevails over current projections, he will be able to form a majority government with far right crazy parties. Among the most dangerous of Netenyahu's likely coalition partners is Israel's answer to Pat Buchanan, Avigdor Lieberman of the Israel Is Our Home Party.

I cried when Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in November 1995. Rabin, a soldier-statesman, was the last political figure in Israel with any credibility possessing the will to pursue peace. A decade later the caliber of Israel's political class appears degraded beyond repair.