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Last update - 17:57 11/02/2009
With 99% of votes counted, Kadima leads Likud 28 to 27 seats
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Israel elections, Israel news 

With 99 percent of the votes counted, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's Kadima Party is in first place with 28 of the Knesset's 120 seats, with Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party following closely behind with 27 seats.

As the vote progresses, Labor stands at 13 seats, while Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party is expected to garner 15 seats.



Exit polls by Israel's three main television stations on Tuesday night came to the same conclusion with Kadima as the leader and Likud coming a narrow second.

Channel 1, Channel 2 and Channel 10 polling of voters as they left the ballot box all pointed to victory for Kadima, headed by Tzipi Livni.

If the exit polls are correct, the right-wing bloc, led by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, will comprise 63-64 seats, while the center-left bloc, headed by Livni, will take 56-57 seats. This means that a win in the polls does not necessarily mean that the next government will have a center-left bent.



Televised exit poll results

The Channel 1 poll gave Kadima 30 seats, Likud 28 seats, and Labor 13 seats. Yisrael Beiteinu is predicted to win 14 seats, according to the poll.

According to the Channel 2 poll, Kadima will hold 29 seats, Likud will take 27 seats and Labor 13 seats. Yisrael Beiteinu will have 15 seats in the new Knesset.

The Channel 10 poll indicated that Likud will take 28 seats, Kadima will hold 30 seats and Labor 13 seats. Yisrael Beiteinu will have 15 seats.

The secular left-wing New Movement-Meretz won only three seats and the right-wing religious parties scored fairly low, as well. United Torah Judaism won five seats, followed by the National Union with 4 and the Bayit Hayehudi with three. The Israeli Arab party Ra'am Ta'al scored four seats and Balad won three.

The Pensioners Party and the Green Movement-Meimad both won just 1 percent of the total vote, just missing the threshold to gain a seat in the Knesset. The Green Party, Strong Israel, the Green Leaf Party and the Tzabar - the youth party - made up 0% of the total vote.

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  • Bradley Burston / Will Livni, Netanyahu settle for rotation, sharing premiership?
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      1.   haaretz prophets 20:14  |  mtk 10/02/09
      2.   Drat. Now I have to stay up all night and watch this! 20:59  |  Eldar 10/02/09
      3.   First 21:13  |  First 10/02/09
      4.   second 21:32  |  Hadley Ritz 10/02/09
      5.   safety first 21:41  |  shmuel 10/02/09
      6.   Extremism 22:01  |  David 10/02/09
      7.   Second 22:04  |  Yitzchak HaLevi 10/02/09
      8.   2nd response 22:12  |  Kees 10/02/09
      9.   Awesome upset 22:12  |  Procrastinator 10/02/09
      10.   *coalition 22:13  |  Procrastinator 10/02/09
      11.   Don`t panic...yet 22:13  |  david 10/02/09
      12.   Livni 22:13  |  Ephraim 10/02/09
      13.   Thank you ISRAEL! 22:14  |  Philipp 10/02/09
      14.   World dodges a bullet 22:15  |  Hank Essay 10/02/09
      15.   Livni for PM 22:16  |  Shaul 10/02/09
      16.   Second 22:17  |  Antonio da Silva 10/02/09
      17.   Exit polls 22:17  |  kris 10/02/09
      18.   Second 22:18  |  Alexandre 10/02/09
      19.   Kadima wins but the left loses 22:20  |  Dani 10/02/09
      20.   Stop me if I`m wrong, but... 22:20  |  Colin Wright 10/02/09
      21.   Lieberman Compared To BNP - The Real Danger 22:21  |  Phil 10/02/09
      22.   Bravo (?Enhorabuena!) Tzipi 22:22  |  Angel Luis Encinas 10/02/09
      23.   WOW 22:22  |  SD 10/02/09
      24.   second 22:23  |  second 10/02/09
      25.   Anti-zionist voters 22:24  |  Ytzchak ben Avraham 10/02/09
      26.   Whichever way .... 22:25  |  JW 10/02/09
      27.   second 22:25  |  centrist 10/02/09
      28.   Bye bye Israel, nice knowing you. 22:25  |  Steven Allsopp 10/02/09
      29.   Potential Coalition 22:26  |  Dan 10/02/09
      30.   Remember John Kerry... 22:26  |  Robert 10/02/09
      31.   Thank you, Lord! 22:26  |  Jason 10/02/09
      32.   Second 22:27  |  Max 10/02/09
      33.   Barak`s Labour crushing defeat 22:27  |  Edmond Omran 10/02/09
      34.   Exit Poll does not count 22:30  |  Brod 10/02/09
      35.   SECOND. 22:31  |  SECOND. 10/02/09
      36.   There can never be a mandate as long as there is occupation 22:32  |  Haim 10/02/09
      37.   numbers don`t add up to Sixty one 22:36  |  Alex 10/02/09
      38.   Kadima 22:37  |  Jakob 10/02/09
      39.   Livni still doesn`t have a mandate 22:42  |  Observer 10/02/09
      40.   From the US 22:43  |  Nyssa 10/02/09
      41.   Russian Roulette 23:11  |  observer 10/02/09
      42.   Good for you Israel 23:14  |  steve 10/02/09
      43.   Arab parties 23:16  |  Avinoam 10/02/09
      44.   bad news 23:18  |  alberto 10/02/09
      45.   BIBI is the PM, right wing gov thank G-d... 23:19  |  Samuel 10/02/09
      46.   Safety 23:19  |  yosef22adar 10/02/09
      47.   Peace? 23:20  |  Bassam 10/02/09
      48.   Where are all the aparthied criers? Arabs in Israeli elections... 23:20  |  Ahmed 10/02/09
      49.   Time for a Grand Coalition 23:24  |  Bruce Budd 10/02/09
      50.   Oh, how politically complex 23:26  |  Cosmo 10/02/09
      51.   Stuck in the mud 23:30  |  Michael N 10/02/09
      52.   Congratulations to right wing coalition win! 23:30  |  Johnny 10/02/09
      53.   Parliamentary system has got to go! We need a representative... 23:43  |  bat yam 10/02/09
      54.   Wait for final count! 23:53  |  Baruch Gold 10/02/09
      55.   This is cute! 23:54  |  Axel 10/02/09
      56.   labour+kadima+likud 23:57  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 10/02/09
      57.   Democraty? 00:00  |  Bilal 11/02/09
      58.   Kadma 00:01  |  Jean-Paul Walshaw 11/02/09
      59.   Wales 00:04  |  Pip 11/02/09
      60.   Parlimentary System is fine elsewhere... 00:06  |  Mikhail 11/02/09
      61.   BLAME THE PALESTINIANS AND IRAN 00:11  |  Brant 11/02/09
      62.   a small miracle given the current climate & circumstances - 00:17  |  ivo 11/02/09
      63.   Axel - wrong! 00:18  |  Miransky 11/02/09
      64.   The greens will have no seat. Who cares about global warming? 00:19  |  kaled 11/02/09
      65.   Like American Prior to the Civil War 00:19  |  Binyamin 11/02/09
      66.   Exit polls: 00:19  |  Ralph 11/02/09
      67.   Hi bat yam, parliamentary systems work very well in 00:22  |  Mark Myers 11/02/09
      68.   and now what? 00:22  |  alberto 11/02/09
      69.   AXEL AND DEMOCRACY 00:22  |  Brant 11/02/09
      70.   Bilal in Ottawa 00:23  |  Martin P. 11/02/09
      71.   Wales 00:27  |  Pip 11/02/09
      72.   Wales 00:51  |  Pip 11/02/09
      73.   Government Israel deserves 00:53  |  MH 11/02/09
      74.   No Cipora, here`s what Israel`s political future will be... 01:03  |  Dr. L. Brnd 11/02/09
      75.   # 63 miransky 01:05  |  Axel 11/02/09
      76.   The polls are already wrong 01:25  |  karen 11/02/09
      77.   #36, Palestinians have their own elections, genius 01:58  |  Jake 11/02/09
      78.   Looks like Shas will be the Kingmaker Again 02:02  |  Smith 11/02/09
      79.   Tel Aviv, the left wins here! 02:06  |  español 11/02/09
      80.   Holocaust Survivors finishing right next to the Daam end? 02:12  |  Pablo B 11/02/09
      81.   Obama, you ready for this? 02:21  |  Loewen 11/02/09
      82.   Wales 02:26  |  l 11/02/09
      83.   But Kadima-Labor doesn`t add up to 02:58  |  Mark Lincoln 11/02/09
      84.   Laughing out loud 03:00  |  Axel 11/02/09
      85.   #14 Hank Essay 03:02  |  Steven 11/02/09
      86.   Binyamin, #65, bankrupt , spurious comparisons 03:04  |  Jake 11/02/09
      87.   Tel Aviv residents, bizarre indeed. 03:05  |  Steven 11/02/09
      88.   No way Livni reaches 61 03:06  |  Student 11/02/09
      89.   FUBAR 03:07  |  Mark 11/02/09
      90.   The right government 07:23  |  for the right reason 11/02/09
      91.   "catastrophically unstable Livni", no either(s) 07:25  |  Miron 11/02/09
      92.   for once I agree with Cipora Julianna Kohn 07:28  |  rm 11/02/09
      93.   Bibi MUST win! 07:29  |  leven5 11/02/09
      94.   Kadima, kadima 07:39  |  Miron 11/02/09
      95.   good try Livni but no cigar .. 08:11  |  martin knopfman 11/02/09
      96.   #48 the only sensible post here tonight 08:16  |  Texan 11/02/09
      97.   Enlightenment RIP. Drowned by Advertising Culture. 08:21  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 11/02/09
      98.   #84 Axel 08:57  |  Joe W 11/02/09
      99.   #56 CJK 09:00  |  Joe W 11/02/09
      100.   Kadima+Labor+Likud? Delusional 09:01  |  Ilan 11/02/09
      101.   After Lebanon, Gaza disasters, how could anyone vote Livni! 09:04  |  BJL 11/02/09
      102.   #74, Dr. Brand 09:14  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 11/02/09
      103.   To steve 09:20  |  Gili 11/02/09
      104.   Things look suspiciously familiar 09:29  |  anon 11/02/09
      105.   Kadima ahead--of course!!! 09:30  |  Mark 11/02/09
      106.   Martin P. in New York 09:45  |  Bilal 11/02/09
      107.   Q.E.D. 09:47  |  Yonatan 11/02/09
      108.   #97 anon - Another reason 09:50  |  Yonatan 11/02/09
      109.   A NEW PARIAH GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD 10:40  |  indrajaya 11/02/09
      110.   #104, anon 10:43  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 11/02/09
      111.   Short memories 11:15  |  GSW 11/02/09
      112.   New strong and powerful Israel 11:15  |  MH 11/02/09
      113.   Cipora #56 Of course I agree with you!! 11:24  |  S 11/02/09
      114.   #113, S 11:55  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 11/02/09
      115.   Tzipi, go with Shas and UTJ (still better than Lieberman)!! 12:24  |  Markus Grafenburg 11/02/09
      116.   Cipora, national service required for voting rights is 100% faira 14:21  |  Dr. L. Brnd 11/02/09
      117.   Wales 14:34  |  JJJ 11/02/09
      118.   Safety 14:34  |  Elias 11/02/09
      119.   The majority voted against peace! 14:38  |  Gray 11/02/09
      120.   The people want peace not PIECE and that`s why the right won!they 18:28  |  glenna 11/02/09
      121.   #119 Gray, well it was not the final solution like shitler. 18:44  |  Big Sur 11/02/09
      122.   #120 ... and where do the palestinians live? 18:44  |  Bilal 11/02/09
      123.   #107 Yonatan..Then Change it to... 20:27  |  Jasmine 11/02/09
      124.   Bilal, the question you wilol be hearing alot 21:22  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/02/09
      125.   Given the Looming Iran Crisis Time for Nat. Unity Gov 03:23  |  Jane 12/02/09
      126.   Bipartisan Parties like Kadima are Poison to Democracy 04:21  |  UsedToPostHere 12/02/09
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