IZRAELI PRESS REVIEW OF 24.01.2013

The extra seat to Jewish Home, bringing it up to 12 seats, will likely come at the expense of the Tal United Arab List. Kadima looks on course to retain its Knesset representation, just passing the electoral threshold.

A surplus vote agreement between the Likud and Jewish Home allows the cumulation of both parties votes to go to the party with the best chance of obtaining an extra seat.

Similar agreements exist between other groups.

Could Lapid become new foreign minister?
After a surprising success in the polls, propelling the new Yesh Atid party to second place, party leader Yair Lapid could become Israel’s new foreign minister.

An analysis piece in the Jerusalem Post asks who is Lapid, what does he stand for and will this present a new image for Israel abroad?

Demand for universal draft law could make coalition unstable
While Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is trying to build a broad coalition for his new government, tensions between the Yesh Atid party and the United Torah Judaism and Shas parties over a universal draft law could prove a stumbling block in these efforts, the Times of Israel reports.