Sri Lanka, Oct. 30 -- Netanyahu and Eisenkot are two sides of the same coin

The Israelis have spoken democratically to reaffirm that they glorify hardliners. They had little choice. There were hardly any candidates with peace credentials. The two main extremist-led blocs that contested the election produced a result in which neither emerged as the overall winner.



Although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud-led right-wing bloc is leading with 53 seats, it remains well short of the 61 seats required to control the 120-seat Knesset and form a government. His rival, Gadi Eisenkot, and his Change Bloc won 48 seats. The bloc representing the Palestinians, who are deliberately referred to as 'Israeli Arabs' in a sinister bid to eras...