Translated material
The guard managed ...
According to the results of extraordinary elections in Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu will form an office for the fourth time in a row.
Why the Israelis, contrary to forecasts, again voted for the "Likud" party - the NEW Times sorted out 
On the afternoon of March 18, Netanyahu had already accepted congratulations against the cry of crying, where he went right after he got acquainted with the exact election results. The story repeated: in 1996, the leader of the left Shimon Perez celebrated his victory over Netanyahu for several hours, and in the morning it turned out that with a slight advantage the right camp defeated.
The Gevalt operation two weeks before the Netanyahu elections went to the States, where he was invited by the Republican congressmen, and performed in Congress with a speech in which he sharply criticized the US administration with Iran under his nuclear program. Bibi speech 40 times was interrupted by applause. Of course, mostly the Republicans tried, most of the Democrats, led by Barack Obama, was boycotted by the guest from the Holy Land, but this was not noticeable on television screens. According to the PR man, Lida, the Israelis were supposed to understand: behind the ocean, their leader is greatly respected. Nevertheless, the ratings of Netanyahu continued to fall. Likud response only three days before the election.
PR operations received the conditional name "Gevalt"-translated from Yiddish-"guard". At first, Netanyahu made a sensational statement: it turns out that he no longer supports the idea of “two states for two peoples”, which means - not a heel of land to the Palestinians and, if he was elected, he will not return to the negotiating table with the Palestinians - they say, in the situation that has developed in the Middle East, this is too dangerous. In time, everything was calculated very clearly. The sensation was aired a few hours before the onset of Saturday, March 14, so competitors were able to respond to the new political program of the right one and a half days, on Sunday, when the election campaign and publication of polls were already prohibited. On Monday, the 16th, the election day of silence came, and on Tuesday, a few hours before the closing of polling stations, Bibi again turned to his supporters. Tens of potential voters were sent, and maybe hundreds of thousands of ESEMECK with an appeal to support the right camp. Netanyahu personally spoke the text of the vocal message, which stated that “hundreds of buses are transported by Arabs in the areas,” but “there is still a little chance” to try to save the fatherland, for which it is necessary to raise all friends and relatives and go vote. The trick worked. The turnout in the elections broke the record of sixteen years ago - 72.3 % (!) - 4,250,697 people came to the plots, and the Likud became the sole winner of the unusual three -month marathon. Many supporters of the “unified and indivisible Israel” believed Likudov’s propaganda and decided this time not to risk this time - after all, the ruling party guaranteed not only security, but also the integrity of the state.
“Russian” preferences despite the success of Lida, in general, the right -wing camp in Knesset increased by only a few mandates. The complete failure in the election of the extreme right -wing “Jewish house” led by Naphtili Benett is noteworthy - this party has only 8 seats (it was 12). But the "Likuda" and such success is enough, in the end, the Operation "Gevalt" was designed only for its own.
But once the Russian-speaking “Our House is Israel” (NDI) reduced his representation in the Knesset by almost a third, and only two from the six remaining deputies in Russian speak-the party leader Avigdor Lieberman and now the former Minister of Absorption of Sofa Landver. Maybe that's why only 40 % of the Russian Israeli voted for NDI, while the Likud chose more than 25 % of immigrants from the former CCC. This turned out to be enough for Netanyahu to take it in the half Russian -speaking Ashdod, having received 32 %, and only 13 % of voters cast votes for NDI in this port city. In neighboring Ashkelon, the gap turned out to be even more impressive-40 % versus 15. In Carmiel, where every second one speaks in Russian, only 18 % voted for Lieberman, and only in the National Ilit the “our house” managed to maintain their positions-the parties of repatriates-21 % of the vote. Avigdor Lieberman is still refusing to comment on the results of popular will, but it seems that the post of Minister of Defense, which he was going to demand as a payment for joining the coalition, will now get someone else.
There is enough to increase the posts for all the working week in Israel starts with Sunday, so the first consultations with the leaders of the parties who passed the electoral barrier, President Ruby Rivlin began on the morning of March 22. Netanyahu does not have competitors, so the whole procedure has become an empty formality. Theoretically, the head of Lichu could have beaten another record and create a wide coalition of 70–80 deputies. The problem is that each partner will require the ministry, or even not one, and a piece of budget for him, and the treasury is not rubber. Economists have already calculated: only the requirements of religious parties will be pulled for almost $ 2 billion, so the premiere will have to save. It will not do without bargaining in any case, but the prime minister has already stated that he was thinking about the abolition of the law that limits the number of ministers in the government. So the posts should be enough for everyone.
In the meantime, the narrow national-religious coalition is most likely. Arithmetic is simple: 30 mandates at Lida, 8 - “Jewish House”, 7 - at Shas, 6 more - “Our House - Israel” and “Jewishness of the Torah”. The leaders of each of these parties have already promised to enter the coalition. As a result, 57 mandates for Lida and its “natural allies” are recruited. After that, Bibi will remain to agree with Yair Lapid or Moshe Kahlon - both will be happy to exchange their birthright for the chair of the Minister of Finance. Total - 67 or 68 members of the coalition. As the experience of the Knesset of the 18th convocation showed (from 2009 to 2013), such a number of allies is enough to sit full cadence and not to bring the matter to new early elections.
Photo: Amir Cohen/Reuters