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| By Jerusalem Newswire March 31, 2006 |
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The rumors of Bibi's demise may have been somewhat premature.
The Likud Party led by Binyamin Netanyahu is still the biggest party on the right side of Israel's political spectrum.
This was revealed Thursday evening after the last votes from soldiers and diplomats were tallied.
Earlier it appeared as if the Israel Beiteinu party of Avigdor Lieberman had inched past the Likud into the top spot on the right.
But the final count added a seat to the Likud and took a seat away from Israel Beiteinu. Kadima and Meretz also each gained a seat while the Shas and Ra'am-Ta'al parties each lost one.
The final results are as follows:
Kadima 29
Labor 20
Shas 12
Likud 12
Israel Beiteinu 11
National Union-National Religious Party 9
Pensioners' Party 7
United Torah Judaism 6
Meretz 5
Ra'am-Ta'al 3
Hadash 3
Balad 3
After the figures were announced the leftist Israeli daily Ha'aretz crowed that "this guarantees Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert a majority among Zionist parties in the Knesset for his plan to withdraw from the West Bank."
Pundits are cautioning however that it is still to early to jump to that conclusion. Efforts to form a coalition are set to continue in the coming days.
Bibi, roughed up in party, fights back
The Likud party held a dramatic meeting Friday morning in Tel Aviv as tensions rose between supporters of Netanyahu and rival Silvan Shalom, with calls emerging to unseat Netanyahu. Netanyahu supporters condemned Shalom and other former Likud ministers, whom they accused of organizing a rebellion against their leader.
Ynet reported the emergence of a new group of "rebels" -- four senior Likud members are determined to put an end to the political future of Netanyahu. Former Likud ministers Silvan Shalom, Limor Livnat, Danny Naveh, and Yisrael Katz chose not to appear at party HQ on election night to hear their leader's concession speech.
One of the four told Ynet on Wednesday: "Bibi has to go home. It's clear as day. We prefer that he would get it and leave on good terms. If not on good terms, than he will have to leave on bad terms. After he caused us such a crash, he has no other option."
Jerusalem Newswire is a Christian Zionist news service.
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