I usually did not agree with his national politics, but Talab El-Sana worked very hard in the Knesset to represent his constituency and promote their well-being for the good of the country. Yea, a lot of you foreigners can't stand hearing praise for him from a settler like me, but he is my fellow citizen, a democrat, and is worthy of praise for his hard work over the years. Talab El-Sana has never been a slacker, and never been one to hide his feelings or pull his punches and I admire him for that. For you kneejerks out there, yes, there is a LOT of discrimination in Israel and until there's true equality of all our citizens Israel will need a lot more work inside its borders. I hope that El-Sana continues his public work to represent his community. My best wishes to him for success in his new life outside of parliament.

...that it reads like a bad joke. Surely there must be some way to better represent the intent of the voters when allocating leftover ballots?

Why is it that your journalist and the Israeli media keeping reporting that Bayit Yehudi gained their 12th seat "at the expense" of the Arab party Ra'am Ta'al. First and foremost, Bayit Yehudi gained another seat because the last group of voters to be counted ELECTED them. That the math resulted in Bayit Yehudi gaining 1 more seat and the Arab party losing 1 seat, does not RESULT in or mean Bayit Yehudi taking away from the Arab party. Nothing is further from truth! Words "like at the expense of [an Arab party]" are fundamentally incorrect and misleading. This is sloppy writing. To the world outside of the Israeli microcosm, it sure reads like a blatant acknowledgement from the Israeli media, of Israeli "oppressing and taking away" whatever from the Arabs. Thus, reinforcing the "Arab victim" narrative. I cannot presume to repeat to you journalists, that words are very important; and that the pen is mightier than the sword.

and cruise the Mediterranean on the Mavi Marmara together for your honeymoon.

I'd much prefer El-Sana to be in the Knesset than Zoabi. There are some pretty decent, law abiding Arab/Israeli citizens in Israel & I very much doubt that you have lived anywhere near them. Therefore you should not comment & make a complete fool of yourself here.

You are 100% correct Pearl. Bad (Israeli) journalism is a huge problem here.

Can't a person respect his ideological opponent? Obviously, not for the views, but for the character? I, for example, have views quite different from Bibi (more liberal, if you must know). However, it doesn't mean that I don't recognize and don't respect his abilities, e.g. his skill for political maneuvers. I also disagree with Shas, but I respect their dedication to their demographic - where with just 10% of the vote they're able to get stuff for their constituency. (I vehemently disagree with that outcome as well as their racist ads, but I respect their tenacity.)

The media has falsely reported the Knesset was divided 60-60 when this is untrue because Yesh Atid is a right wing party, but this clinches it. The right wing won even by the Leftist media accounts.

From an outside perspective, I found something interesting in the infographic above showing the various parties and their logos. Take Avoda (Labor) and Likud for instance. The text of the Labor logo leans to the right, and has what looks like a wheat kernel in its graphic meaning it's stabilized, staying put (farming land). Likud's text leans to the Left, with a wave in the top indicating fast moving - so Likud is "fast moving" away from "agriculture", or stabilization? I found the text leaning in the direction that is opposite their political leanings but that may be a Right-to-Left linguistic issue in Hebrew. Can anyone clear this up? The most interesting and obvious is Meretz. The text in its logo appears shaky, nervous. And its colors match the Arab Parties' logo color, and that of Islam.