Kadima hails Olmert as next PM, leaders declare victory for party
Haaretz
Kadima lawmakers hailed party leader Ehud Olmert as the next prime minister Tuesday night, shortly after exit polls gave the party the most number of seats, with a predicted range of 29 to 32.
"Kadima has won today. The next prime minister is Ehud Olmert," said Roni Bar-On, a Kadima legislator, who followed Ariel Sharon from the Likud to his new party.
"In any final outcome, this is a victory for Kadima," said another former Likud member, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. "Kadima will form the government. The intention is to fulfil all of our commitments to the voters."
"What is important is that Kadima is alive and kicking," said Kadima MK Ruhama Avraham. "All options are open to Ehud Olmert."
Labor figures also responded positively to the exit polls, which predicted that between 20 and 22 Knesset seats would go the party.
In praise of the party's chairman, Shelly Yachimovitch (Labor) called Amir Peretz the "undisputed leader of the Labor Party."
Former prime minister Ehud Barak, who refrained from campaigning for Peretz due to political differences between the two, congratulated Peretz for preserving Labor's strength.
Labor MK Yuli Tamir said that the party will sit in a coalition only if its political and social platform is adopted. "We have clear guidelines for a coalition we're willing to sit in," Tamir said.
Dan Yatom of Labor said the results of the exit polls showed a defeat for Kadima and victory for Labor.
"According to these exit polls this is a severe defeat for Kadima. This is a big achievement for the Labor party," he said.
"As far as the coalition is concerned, we will wait and see. I am very satisfied with these results."
Labor MK Isaac Herzog said the results vindicated his party's social agenda.
"Before the elections, everyone was lamenting the Labor party, which has succeeded in changing the national agenda," he said.
"We proved that we united the nation. We brought together religious and secular citizens, settlers and those in the Gush Dan region. Our most important achievement was bringing everyone together," Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman, whose party won 12-14 seats, said Tuesday night.
"This is only the beginning. I am happy that we became a large party in the nationalist camp, and I'm sure that next time we'll win the elections. We have a lot of work ahead of us. This is the beginning of the fight for Israel's future. This achievement belongs to the activists, volunteers and fellow party members. We'll do everything to ensure the security of Israel's citizens, be it from outside sources or from internal criminal sources," Lieberman said.
The exit polls also predicted seven seats for the Pensioners' party. Party leader Rafi Eitan said Tuesday night that his party would only join a coalition that would safeguard the rights of the elderly.