Ok, I come to this discussion late.  I'm not very good a snap judgments or "liveblogging" or instant commentary.  I like to go over things in my head, get some sleep, do something completely unrelated, and then come back to the subject later.  Way later, sometimes.  But I wanted to throw two cents in on this.

I, like several others on this board, have discussed the I/P conflict for sometime.  I will make no bones about the fact that I consider myself to be strongly pro-Israel in that side of the debate, although I am just as adamantly pro-peace.

I take Hunter's admonition re: the need to clean up the discussion seriously.  Some diaries, or at least the following comments, have become so outlandish that they have been a source of embarrasment to the site.  Hunter works his ass off to keep a clean forum, and does not have double standards for points of view he would otherwise agree to.

There has been much talk of Jimmy Carter's new book "Palestine:  Peace Not Apartheid."  The former President of the United States has admitted that he intended to provoke with his title.

Carter is now placing the blame for the continued conflict squarely on Israel.  According to Carter, Palestine has long recognized the right of Israel to exist in peace, but Israel has never agreed to recognize an independent Palestinian state.

Perhaps nothing has invigorated the bases of both parties than the judicial confirmation battles, particularly at the Supreme Court level.  The far right has made re-shaping the court a major goal, and liberals have devoted considerable efforts to stopping them.

Today the Supreme Court decided the case of Jones v. Flowers, a case determining what efforts a government must take to provide notice to property owners when it intends to seize the property as a result of a tax delinquency.  The decision was written by Roberts, and joined by the four "liberal" members of the court, over the dissent of the two hard conservatives and one moderate conservative.  Does this decision indicate that Roberts, even if not a liberal, may not turn out to be the conservative ideologue that the right hopes for?  More on the flip...

This originally started as a comment, but as it got longer I decided I would, after over a year on dkos, decide to write a diary on a subject.

Anyway, I thought I would give a quick "gut reaction" to what the exit polls are saying.  At this point, the center right Kadima, founded by Ariel Sharon just before his stroke, is being declared the winner with anywhere between 29-33 seats.  Second place is Labor with anywhere from 19-23 seats.  Likud has been decimated, with 11-15 seats.  It may even fall into fourth behind Yisrael Beitenu, a party run by far right populist demagogue Avignor Lieberman.

What's the future for the parties in Israel?  What happens next?  More below....