We have that here, but more, in the US!

believe in their ideas and WANT THEM in the government. Ben-Ari and Eldad are two of the FINEST representatives Israel has. The problem are the Israelis who DON'T want to be Jews or good Israelis. This country is really messed up. Tzadakim were never listed to and were always followed my a small minority. Only 20% of the Jews in Mitzrim left Egypt with Moshe. SAME will soon happen with Israel.

The results are terribly disappointing. However hashem was watching over the Jewish people. One more seat for the left and Lapid would be Prime Minister, Livni, Foreign Minister, Yachimovich, Finance Minister, and Galon, Defense Minister. Hashem was watching over us last night.

i chose to vote for a small party.. am shalem... i wanted am salem's moderate voice in the knesset, and i was prepared to take the risk that he wouldn't reach the threshold. i wanted to vote FOR someone, not against parties i don't like. i'm not unhappy that i did that, and i'm not unhappy that lapid got a good number of seats...i think it will help to make things more moderate. i just would like us to have an stv voting system, that would enable us to choose more positively, instead of having to chose the least bad option...i'd also like to see some kind of representation where some of the MK's are voted for according to the region/city, so there is an address to send your complaints/questions etc.

I am sorry Oztma and Am Shalem did not pass the threshold. I voted for neither, but supported both.

All those people who voted for parties that didn't meet the threshold could say that there were millions of wasted votes on the parties that won. They voted for who they believed were best suited to run this country. The only people who think a vote is wasted is someone who is a sore loser and thinks they could have won without the wasted votes on their side. No vote is wasted, that is what makes a democracy special.

As Shelly had been trying to educate people, Israel's laws say that these votes will be divided proportionally among the largest parties. So Bibi may get another seat out of these "wasted" votes or Lapid may.

choice doesnt get elected? On the ballot put your first choice, and if they dont pass the threshold to be in the knesset, have a back up choice . That way you dont have this amount of waste

What an ignorant article. What only former commandos, and rich journalists can make / revitalize parties? I didn't waste my vote. In fact no vote is wasted. What an idiotic thing to say. It's like saying I wasted my vote because i voted for Romney over Obama, and my choice happened to lose.

What is this, segregation? Then we are missing the "Split United Arab list", " The Arab Terror to be List", "United Bedouin List", "The Jewish Quarrel Party", "The Kinneret Fisherman List" and so on...! In some years there will be a "World United Islamic List"....

Imagine who they might have voted for otherwise. And they even took time to vote?!

#10 - to vote for a party that probably wouldn't qualify wasn't very smart. Better not to call the article "ignorant" becasuse you leave yourself wide open. Not the same as Obaama and Romney at all. Sorry but you wasted your vote. I hate to think of who you might have voted for if you'd voted for a party that was sure to get seats.

That should read "Ignorant person", not "people". If you do not understand democracy, then just say so and ask, someone will be glad to enlighten you. But you foist your ignorance on a quarter million strangers who live here, and you do not, is not only ignorant, but arrogant as well (funny how these two attributes are often hand-in-hand). I see a quarter million people having a message they are trying to send to the elected. Let's hope they take the time to listen. It's in their interest if they want to pick up these votes next election. BTW, your lack of understanding about politics aside, a dead giveaway of ignorance is lack of regard for proper punctuation in public posts.

This author is simply displaying his disdaine for democracy and would rather have a farcical 2 party system like in the US.

In this countries political system the opposition plays little or no role in governance. As such, any vote for Labour, where Shelly has said she would not be in a coalition unless she leads it, is as unimportant as those parties not in the Knesset at all.

The Israeli public will never learn and will continue voting for parties that have got no hope of getting into the Knesset

Proportional system is only fragmenting the opinion; it runs exactly against a stable government.It is a system for a boys-scout camp leadership, where you will elect a leader for two weeks, then everybody goes home.To elect a stable government you must have a MAJORITY electoral system, with the country divided by geographical districts of roughly the same quantity of voters. The majority system gives much more control of the politician elected by the local district; if he errs from the mandate he received from the voters, the next time they will eject him, fair and clear.Instead of that clarity starting from the voters ( bottom-up) you have the parties establishment taking care of their own little priorities and imposing upon the voters the choice of the inners circles: unfair, undemocratic, and crooked. Besides that 1,000,000 israelis who are expatriates are deprived of their basic right to vote.This is a gross violation of their political rights; All major western democracies do allow their expatriates to vote wherever they are, either long time or short time foreign residents. So next time , please do change for the good the rules ; Majority scrutiny and right to vote for expats.You will get a much more stable government.

Just because your party did not make it to the Knesset does not mean your vote was wasted.....voting and making your voice heard is what matters. Look at us here in the USA - our state elections for president are winner take all in the Electoral College. If my candidate does not win that does not mean my vote was wasted. Israel is a vibrant lively democracy - people shold not feel that they have wasted their votes - the parties that did not make it are still important to the national discussion.