Kadima win most seats in tight Israeli election

Final results in Israel's election tonight give the moderate Kadima Party one more seat in the new parliament than Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud.

Kadima won 28 and Likud 27 places in the 120-seat parliament.

But the parliament has a majority among hard-line parties, making it easier for Mr Netanyahu to form the next government and take over as prime minister.

He opposes talks toward a peace treaty with the Palestinians which could put him in conflict with the Obama administration.

Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni, the current foreign minister, is also trying to attract coalition partners.

One possibility is a joint government. Mr Netanyahu would be prime minister, while Ms Livni and her party would receive key government ministries.

Israel's Election Commission released the final results after counting votes by soldiers, prisoners and diplomats, about 100,000 out of a total of 3.3 million cast. The additional votes did not change the allocation of seats in the parliament tallied after the Tuesday election.

The hawkish bloc headed by Likud, including the third largest party, Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu Party, controls 65 seats, giving Mr Netanyahu the edge in coalition building. However, each party has its own agenda, and getting them all to sit around the same Cabinet table is far from automatic.

So both Ms Livni and Mr Netanyahu are promoting the idea of a joint "national unity" government.

In the most likely scenario, Mr Netanyahu would be the prime minister, and Kadima would be allocated important government ministries like finance, defence or foreign affairs. Together the two parties would approach a parliamentary majority, reducing the bargaining power of the smaller factions as potential coalition members.

Mr Lieberman's party won 15 seats. He hopes to redraw Israel's borders to push areas with heavy concentrations of Israeli Arabs outside the Jewish state and under Palestinian jurisdiction.

Those who remain would be forced to sign an oath of loyalty to the Jewish state to maintain the right to vote or run for office. If Likud and Kadima team up, Mr Lieberman's ability to force such radical changes would be cut.

But the hawkish makeup of the parliament - and Mr Netanyahu's own opposition to peace treaty talks with the Palestinians - could mean Israeli refusal to move toward an accord.

That could put the new Israeli government into conflict with the Obama administration, as President Obama has pledged to put Middle East peacemaking high on his agenda.

Last month he sent his special envoy, George Mitchell, on his first tour of the region. Mr Mitchell is on record as favouring talks toward a peace treaty and opposing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Mr Netanyahu disagrees on both issues.

Next Wednesday the election results will be published in the official government journal, and then the formal clock starts ticking toward formation of a new Israeli government.

The process starts with President Shimon Peres consulting the 12 parties to hear their recommendations about who should become prime minister. Mr Peres picks the candidate he believes has the best chance.

If more than 60 members of parliament express support for one of the candidates, his choice becomes obvious - and efforts by Ms Livni and Mr Netanyahu now are focused on trying to win those endorsements.

The premier-designate has six weeks to form a coalition government and win approval from the new parliament.