The Israeli Election

Here are the results from the most recent Israeli national election, in February 2009.

Kadima: 28
Likud: 27
Yisrael Beiteinu: 15
Labor: 13
Shas: 11
United Torah Judaism: 5
Ichud Leumi: 4
Ra'am Ta'al: 4
Hadash: 4
Bayit Yehudi: 3
Meretz: 3
Balad: 3

Let's examine the platform of each party.
Kadima:

The Israeli nation has a national and historic right to the whole of Israel.
Israel shall remain a Jewish state and homeland. Jewish majority in Israel will be preserved

Likud:
Supporters of "Revisionist Zionism", the "nationalist faction within the Zionist movement".

"The Likud will work towards boosting Jewish, Zionist, and national elements at schools and the educational system both in the Jewish sector and the Arab and Druze sectors alike."

"Israel will spare no effort in ensuring the return of all its missing and captive soldiers; Israel will continue to work for the pardon of Jonathan Pollard. " (same link as above)

"Israel will not allow the establishment of an Arab Palestinian state west of the Jordan River. The Palestinians will be able to manage their lives freely in the framework of an autonomous regime, but not as a sovereign, independent state. " (same link as above)

This appears to the primary difference between the "leftist" Kadima and the "rightist" Likud: Kadima believes that the best way to preserve a Jewish-majority Israel is through a two-state solution; Likud is equally committed to a Jewish-majority Israel but rejects the two state solution.

Yisrael Beiteinu:
Note: means "Israel is Our Home".

Essentially, the two key principles held by the movement are the creation of an encouraging socio-economic environment for new immigrants to Israel, while at the same time taking a hard line on all negotiations with the Palestinians and Arab states. A part of the academic argument in the movement's platform is based on the numerous studies published by faculties in Israel that warn of a danger posed to the Jewish character of Israel by the rising percentage of Arabs in the population of the state. The only solution, as argued by many of the supporters of the party, is an increased effort to bring more Jews to Israel by immigration and/or to convince as many Arab citizens of Israel as possible to leave.

Party motto: "Israel is our home, Palestine is theirs". A white nationalist's wet dream! Imagine an English political party with the balls to say "England is our home, Pakistan is theirs". This is the third-largest party in Israel.

Labor:
Per Wikipedia, they're "Labor Zionists", or economically left-wing Zionists.


Shas:
Conservative party that favors an Israel run under Halakha, Jewish religious law. Supporters of a Jewish ethnic majority in Israel.


United Torah Judaism:
Ultra-Orthodox party.

Ichud Leumi:
Means "National Union" in Hebrew.

Per their official website:

The Ichud Leumi represents a broad consensus of the Israeli public that believes in the vital importance of safeguarding the security and national heritage of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. Our list includes candidates from various sectors of the Israeli public united by a shared commitment to the national rights of the Jewish people and the territorial integrity of our ancestral homeland. As the only party that has remained true to the ideals that have always defined Israel’s national camp, we offer our voters a practical platform to continue the Zionist endeavor and create a brighter future for the State of Israel

Ra'am Ta'al:
Party that represents Israeli Arabs. Note that several of Israel's more right-wing parties have attempted to ban Ra'am and other Arab political parties.

The Central Elections Committee (CEC) yesterday banned the Arab parties United Arab List-Ta'al and Balad from running in next month's parliamentary elections amid accusations of racism from Arab MKs. Both parties intend to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.

Members of the CEC conceded yesterday that the chance of the Supreme Court's upholding the ban on both parties was slim.

Arab faction delegates in the CEC walked out of the hall before the vote, shouting, "this is a fascist, racist state." As they walked out, CEC deputy chairman MK David Tal (Kadima) and the Arab delegates pushed each other and a Knesset guard had to intervene and separate them.
The CEC voted overwhelmingly in favor of the motions, accusing the country's Arab parties of incitement, supporting terrorist groups and refusing to recognize Israel's right to exist.

The requests to ban the Arab parties were filed by two ultra right parties Yisrael Beiteinu and National Union-National Religious Party.

Hadash:

Platform:

The following constitutes the essential issues of the platform on which Hadash ran in the most recent election (February 10, 2009):

1. Achieving a just, comprehensive, and stable peace: Israeli/Palestinian and Israeli/Arab
2. Protecting workers' rights and issues
3. Developing social services: health, education, housing, welfare, culture, and sports
4. Equality for the Arab population in Israel
5. Eradicating ethnic discrimination in all fields; defending the concerns of residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods and development towns
6. Protecting democratic freedoms
7. Equality between the sexes in all fields
8. Protecting the environment; environmental justice
9. Eradicating weapons of mass destruction
   

This is an interesting one. This is the only party so far that resembles anything like a leftist party from the United States or Europe. Several planks of Hadash's platform (racial equality, the elimination of ethnic discrimination, gender equality in the workplace) are axioms of Western political life. In Israel they're supported by a fringe left-wing party that won approximately three percent of the seats in the Knesset.

Bayit Yehudi:
Right-wing Zionist party; name means "Jewish Home".

Meretz:
Another party that supports Labor Zionism.

Balad:
Another Arab party. "Arab Nationalists", which is exactly what it sounds like.



MY TAKE: Every non-Arab party on this list, representing 109 of the 120 seats in the Knesset, support an Israel that is ethnically and culturally Jewish. There's apparently no (or virtually no) dissent among Israeli Jews on this topic. Or if there is, it's not expressed in the political arena.