Note: On 22 January 2013 Israel went to polls to elect the nineteenth Knesset which saw a drop in the popularity of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ruling Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu coalition. A new centrist part Yesh-Atid under the leadership of former journalist Yair Lapid emerged as the surprise winner with 19 seats in the 120-member Knesset. The editorials commentaries from the international and the Middle Eastern media and Asia on this are reproduced here. Editor, MEI@ND
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The Washington Post, Washington, Editorial, 21January 2013, Monday
1. Following the elections in Israel, a reset
Tolosefavor in Washington was once political poison for Israeli prime ministers. Twice during the 1990s, Israelis voted out leaders who quarrelled with the U.S. president; the second one was Benjamin Netanyahu. So one of the more remarkable aspects of Israel’s current election campaign, which ends at the polls on Tuesday (22 January), is that Mr. Netanyahu hasn’t been afraid to play up his notoriously bad relations with President Obama. For the full text

The Guardina, London, Editorial, 23 January 2013, Wednesday
2. Israel: the new normal
The Israeli voter is to be credited with taking a good look at the far right and rejecting it – Netanyahu is 'King Bibi' no more. In the end, the crown prince of Israeli politics was not the dotcom millionaire who would annex 60% of the West Bank. He was neither of the far nor the national religious right, as many had confidently predicted. For the full text

The New York Times, New York, Editorial, 23 January 2013, Wednesday
3. Israel’s Election
The political opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel were ecstatic at his apparent losses in Tuesday’s (22 January) elections. Ha'aretz, the left-leaning newspaper, called it a vote of no confidence that showed Mr. Netanyahu has “failed in the political sphere, the foreign policy sphere and the socioeconomic sphere.” For the full text

The Star, Toronto, Editorials, 23 January 2013, Wednesday
4. Israel’s election a rebuke to Benjamin Netanyahu and far right
In Israel’s election, moderates who supported Yair Lapid’s there is a Future party stole the thunder from Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and from Naftali Bennett’s far-right Jewish Home party. For the full text

China Daily, USA, New York, Editorial, 24 January 2013, Thursday
5. Re-starts peace talks
With incumbent Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poised to win a third term in Tuesday's (22 January) voting, concerns and even worries for the Middle East peace process are running high, as it is believed that he will continue to push his hard-line policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict once he forms a coalition government, which will in turn dampen hopes for an early resumption of the peace talks. For the full text

The Daily Star, Beirut, Editorial, 24 January 2013, Thursday
6. The same Israel
For decades, Palestinians and Arabs have watched and waited as elections take place in Israel, speculating on the scenarios that might unfold if either “the left” or “the right” takes office. For the full text

The National, Abu Dhabi, Editorial, 24 January 2013, Thursday
7. Israeli vote reveals political weakness
Jobs, rent and food: these are the issues that sent Israelis to the polls this week. The occupation of Palestinian lands on their doorstep and the uprisings that are reshaping the entire region were largely ignored. But the ostrich with its head stuck in the sand is hardly in a position of strength. For the full text

The Times of India, New Delhi, Editorial, 25 January 2013, Friday
8. Good election performance of centrist candidates in Israel augurs well for Mideast peace
Fears of Israel's lurch to the right may have been premature. The single most salient take away from the recently concluded Israeli elections is that Benjamin Netanyahu, for all his aggressive rhetoric, has failed to make Israeli nationalism in the form of hard-line stance on Palestine the defining issue of the Israeli polity. For the full text

The Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem, Editorial, 26 January 2013, Saturday     
9. Fixing things
Last week’s election returns didn’t reflect anything resembling a swing to socialism. The true socialists can be found in Labour and further left in Meretz and Hadash. Israeli definitions for the political Left and Right are idiosyncratic in the extreme. The world resorts to our characterizations without quite understanding what we mean by them, erroneously dubbing our Right conservative and our Left liberal. For the full text

The Hindu, Chennai, Editorial, 1 February 2013,
10.  Nothing for the Palestinians
The Israeli Central Election Committee’s announcement of the final results for the January 22 (Tuesday) general election shows a sharp fall in support for the Likud-led coalition under Binyamin Netanyahu. Mr. Netanyahu will remain Prime Minister, but his right-wing Likud Yisrael Beiteinu alliance has lost over a quarter of its members in the 120-member Knesset, plummeting from 42 to 31 seats. For the full text

Compiled by MariMuthu U

MariMuthu U is a Doctoral candidate at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Email

As part of its editorial policy, the MEI@ND standardizes spelling and date formats to make the text uniformly accessible and stylistically consistent. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views/positions of the MEI@ND.  Editor, MEI@ND:  P R Kumaraswamy