Viewpoint: Israel has their second election in 6 months.

This is something I'll be looking to cover on my Live & Direct radio show next Monday, but I'll use the blog here to pull together my thoughts as we go.  Also, in relation to the blog, I'll use this blog now to focus on some of the stories I may well be talking about on the show, which will give you an insight into what comes into my stream of consciousness during pre-production of the weekly show.

So, at 8pm UK time, 2200 in Israel, 1900 GMT, the polls closed and the exit polls were announced.  Now, in the UK, we get a single exit poll, that all the major broadcasters commission.  In Israel, the situation is a little different, as there as 3 different exit polls, but none of them have The Likud Party leading, and one has them behind.  It's basically too close to call right now, but the early indications point to the centrist Blue & White Party having the most seats.

Now, if the actual results bear this out, this could be the end of Benjamin Netanyahu's political career, as he is facing allegations of corruption.  Bibi was hoping that he could win this election so he could persuade potential allies on the right to back a piece of legislation that would make him immune from prosecution.  But it looks like that strategy may have backfired spectacularly.  And even if he does win, after the past 5 months of failing to garner a coalition for government, it would be unlikely to believe that a coalition could form around such a controversial idea, as making a politician immune from prosecution.

We'll see what happens in the upcoming hours and days.

Katie Couric: Bush and Obama should work together on Gaza.

I was pre-occupied yesterday with happening in the UK and Irish broadcast media, so this entry in the notebook by Katie Couric got missed by me when it was initially posted but I'm glad I caught up with it now, cos it is worthy of note, even if it is a mere pipe dream that she proposes.



I just cannot see Bush and Obama getting together on this issue. I have a feeling that Obama is going to be very different when it comes to the Israel/Palestine situation, and I think the Israelis knew that too. That's why the military operations had to be now, because they know when Obama comes into office, they will not have such strong support as they have had from "Dubya". I have to say that I think this may be the last throw of the dice for Israel to get what they want, because they're scared that an Obama administration may just force a settlement on both sides, that neither want, but may have to live with. Israel is trying to get the upper hand now, rather than possibly come of worst in a diplomatic situation.