Cite: Koren, Arab Israeli Citizens in the 2009 Elections

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Koren, David. "Arab Israeli Citizens in the 2009 Elections: Between Israeli Citizenship and Palestinian Arab Identity." Israel Affairs 16,1 (2010): 124-141.

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Abstract

The 18^th Knesset currently seats 13 Arab and Druze MKs. This is one MK fewer compared to the corresponding figure in the 17^th Knesset and the number of MKs representing predominantly Arab parties hardly changed (increasing from 10 to 11). These minor changes are surprising considering the formative nature of the events in the Jewish-Arab arena during the three years since the last elections. The article suggests that the same events which intensified the Arab desire to separate from the Jewish majority – The Israeli operation in Gaza during December 2008-January 2009 (“Cast Lead”) and the “Israel Beytenu” party’s campaign which has placed the issue of Israeli Arabs’ loyalty to their state at the top of its agenda – were the ones who motivated the Arabs to participate eventually in the elections to allay outcomes they perceived as deleterious to their interests.

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URL: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a918951782~db=all

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Keywords: Jewish-Arab relationship; Arab Nationalism; Arab minority in Israel; Palestinian identity and Palestinian Nationalism; voting patterns among minority groups

Cite: Khanin, Israel Beiteinu between the Mainstream and ‘Russian’ Community Politics

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Khanin, Vladimir (Ze’ev). "The Israel Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) Party between the Mainstream and ‘Russian’ Community Politics." Israel Affairs 16,1 (2010): 105-123.

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Abstract

The Israel Our Home (Israel Beiteinu, IB) party became the major surprise of the 2009 elections, winning 15 Knesset seats. Two-thirds of these seats were won through Russian speakers, who entered Israel in the recent waves of Russian Jewish immigration; and a third came from veteran and native Israelis. This composition showed a major dilemma of IB – to find a modus vivendi between the party’s nationwide aspirations and its predominantly Russian community character. The IB’s electoral success was a result of its concept of a ‘population and territories exchange’, which was a ‘neo-centralist alternative’ to both the ‘land for peace’ of the left and the ‘peace for peace’ concepts of the right, as well as the charismatic figure of the party leader Avigdor Lieberman, who better than anybody else succeeded in expressing the feeling of frustration of the various peripheral groups in Israeli society.

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URL: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a918951330~db=all

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Keywords: Russian-speaking Jews; immigrant politics; Lieberman; Israel Beiteinu; elections

Cite: Diskin, The Likud: The Struggle for the Centre

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Diskin, Abraham. "The Likud: The Struggle for the Centre ." Israel Affairs 16,1 (2010): 51-68.

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Abstract

On 26 October 2008 President Shimon Peres called for new elections. The Knesset was dissolved on 11 November. Three candidates claimed that they were in the running for prime minister: Livni, Netanyahu and Barak. The election campaign would focus more on individuals than on parties. The security issue took high priority in the elections. A major issue throughout the campaign was the position of the leading parties on the establishment of two states for two peoples as part of a peace agreement. The internet became a major tool in the campaign. On the morning of 27 December, the IDF began a war in the Gaza Strip, which Israel called Operation Cast Lead. The major parties agreed to suspend their campaigns until the end of the war. Kadima’s victory with 28 seats came as a surprise. The Likud came second with 27 seats, having lost voters at the end of the campaign to the third largest party Yisrael Beiteinu, which ended up with 15 Knesset seats. Looking back at the election campaign one can best define it as a broken and shortened one.

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URL: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a918950933~db=all

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Keywords: Downs; elections; electoral campaign; coalition formation theory; Kadima; Likud

Cite: Gerstenfeld, A Political History of the 2009 Campaign

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Gerstenfeld, Manfred. "The Run-Up to the Elections: A Political History of the 2009 Campaign." Israel Affairs 16,1 (2010): 14-30.

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Abstract

On 26 October 2008 President Shimon Peres called for new elections. The Knesset was dissolved on 11 November. Three candidates claimed that they were in the running for prime minister: Livni, Netanyahu and Barak. The election campaign would focus more on individuals than on parties. The security issue took high priority in the elections. A major issue throughout the campaign was the position of the leading parties on the establishment of two states for two peoples as part of a peace agreement. The internet became a major tool in the campaign. On the morning of 27 December, the IDF began a war in the Gaza Strip, which Israel called Operation Cast Lead. The major parties agreed to suspend their campaigns until the end of the war. Kadima’s victory with 28 seats came as a surprise. The Likud came second with 27 seats, having lost voters at the end of the campaign to the third largest party Yisrael Beiteinu, which ended up with 15 Knesset seats. Looking back at the election campaign one can best define it as a broken and shortened one.

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URL: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a918950969~db=all

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Keywords: Election campaign; Operation Cast Lead; Israel: Politics, Labour Party, Kadima Party, Israel Beiteinu Party, Tzipi Livni, Ehud Barak, Binyamin Netanyahu, Avigdor Lieberman, Moshe Feiglin, Likkud Party, Elections, Elections 2009, Cast Lead / עופרת יצוקה

ToC: Israel Affairs 16, 1 (2010)

[Items will be posted separated, time permitting)

Israel Affairs: Volume 16 Issue 1 is now available online at informaworld^TM.

Special Issue: Israel’s 2009 Election

Original Articles

The 2009 Knesset elections: a foreign affairs perspective
Pages 1 – 13

Authors: Shmuel Sandler; Hillel Frisch

The run-up to the elections: a political history of the 2009 campaign
Pages 14 – 30

Author: Manfred Gerstenfeld

Kadima goes back: the limited power of vagueness
Pages 31 – 50

Author: Giora Goldberg

The Likud: the struggle for the centre
Pages 51 – 68

Author: Abraham Diskin

The decline of the Labour party
Pages 69 – 81

Author: Efraim Inbar

Stability in the Haredi camp and upheavals in nationalist Zionism: an analysis of the religious parties in the 2009 elections
Pages 82 – 104

Authors: Asher Cohen; Bernard Susser

The Israel Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party between the mainstream and ‘Russian’ community politics
Pages 105 – 123

Author: Vladimir (Ze’ev) Khanin

Arab Israeli citizens in the 2009 elections: between Israeli citizenship and Palestinian Arab identity
Pages 124 – 141

Author: David Koren

 

Issues

Peace and security in the 2009 election
Pages 142 – 164

Author: Jonathan Rynhold

Corruption again, and again not decisive
Pages 165 – 178

Author: Ira Sharkansky

Israel’s religious vote in comparative perspective: an Africanist analysis
Pages 179 – 200

Author: William F. S. Miles

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Keywords: Israel: Political System, Israel: Politics, Elections, Elections 2009, Peace: Israeli Peace Movements, Religious-Secular Divide, Israel: Religion, Israeli Palestinians, Ultra-Orthodox / Haredi, Zionism, Russian Immigrants, Labour Party, Likkud Party, Kadima Party, Ehud Barak, Binyamin Netanyahu, Avigdor Lieberman