1)      Where and when to follow election results and analysis?

 If you are not a Hebrew speaker and are not going to tune in to online broadcasts of Israeli radio (Reshet Bet; Galei Tzahal)  or television (Channel 1; Channel 2; Channel 10), you can start following exit polls and real results as of 10:00 PM Israel time (4:00 PM EST) on Tuesday, March 17 on Israeli English language web sites (Haaretz; The Times of Israel; Ynet; Jerusalem Post; i24)  as well as on APN’s twitter accounts, available through our web site.  Votes are typically counted quickly. A good picture of election results should be available before midnight EST.

                Yossi Alpher is an independent security analyst. He is the former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University, a former senior official with the Mossad, and a former IDF intelligence officer. Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent APN's views and policy positions.

Below is a compilation of elections-related materials from Yossi Alpher's Hard Questions, Tough Answers, December 8 to the present.  You can see all Yossi Alpher’s Hard Questions, Tough Answers columns here.

March 18, 2015 - Israel’s Knesset elections - analysis
March 9, 2015 - Netanyahu’s speech to Congress: looking beyond the commentary heard thus far.
March 2, 2015 - Meanwhile, back home in Israel.
February 23, 2015 - Knesset election assessment.
February 16, 2015 - With one month to go, Netanyahu’s election manipulations.
February 9, 2015 - Jordan being dragged into the Syria conflict, escalated fighting in Sinai, an election update and more.
January 26, 2015 - Netanyahu's invitation to speak before Congress, new elections lists, the Saudi succession and more.
January 12, 2015 - The Paris attacks and the Islamist threat, election update, and more.
December 22, 2014 - UNSC Palestinian statehood votes; is there Israeli consensus on UN intervention? and more.
December 15, 2014 - Israeli Elections - small signs of hope; and security and violence.
December 8, 2014 - The Israeli elections issue.

Overview

Israel is a parliamentary democracy with legislative, executive and judicial branches. The Knesset is the country's legislative organ. It is located in Jerusalem and includes 120 seats assigned on the basis of nationwide proportional representation. It operates through plenary sessions and through fifteen standing committees.

Knesset members are elected in four-year terms through party lists. They enact laws, supervise all government activities, and can elect or remove the President of the state.

The judicial branch, separate from the Knesset, includes both secular and religious courts.

The government coalition, which forms the executive branch, consists of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. It is responsible for administering internal and foreign affairs, including security matters.

To follow the latest news and polls related to the March 17 Israeli elections, subscribe to NewsNosh - APN's summary of the Israeli media prepared daily by journalist Orly Halpern in Jerusalem.   Below is a compilation of elections-related materials from the NewsNosh, February 1-present.

Americans for Peace Now today called on Eric Fingerhut, the President of Hillel International, to reconsider his decision to boycott J Street’s annual conference. Fingerhut says he decided to cancel his planned appearance at the conference because one of the people invited to speak there is Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat.

Yesterday saw the publication of an open letter, signed by 47 Republican Senators and addressed to the leaders of Iran, with a simple message: any agreement you make with U.S. President Barack Obama over your nuclear program will not be worth the paper it’s written on; we can block it now or kill it once Obama is out of office.  Bloomberg journalist Josh Rogin, who broke the story, stated unequivocally that the letter is meant “to discourage the Iranian regime from signing a deal.” The letter was spearheaded by Sen. Cotton (R-AR), who has long made clear his opposition to any Iran negotiations; signers include including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

This week, Alpher discusses what was wrong with Netanyahu’s speech before the US Congress last week; what were some possibly positive contributions in the speech from the standpoint of Israelis who don’t support the prime minister politically; what issues the event raised; and significant political dilemmas framed by the speech.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) strongly condemns today’s terrorist attack in Jerusalem.

A young Palestinian intentionally rammed a private car at police officers and civilians, leaving six female police officers and a male civilian injured. The attacker was shot, injured, and arrested.

APN condemns the attack. We wish full recovery to those who were injured.

Ahead of Israel's March 17 election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Washington on a mission to undermine President Obama's Iran policy. This, his latest and greatest diplomatic affront, has starkly revealed the degree to which many here have tired of his shtick.

But what may come as a surprise is that Israelis are sick of Bibi too.

Prime Minister Netanyahu began his speech to Congress with a reference to the book of Esther – the book also known as the “Megillah” that we read on the holiday of Purim. In attempting to make the case for his controversial speech, Netanyahu implied that he was playing the role of the heroine of the story, Queen Esther, savior of the Jewish people. It sounds absurd, but he was quite serious.

In fact, the whole path leading up to the speech was a series of twists and turns that are nearly unbelievable, although they certainly fit the themes of intrigue and absurdity that characterize the Purim story. Indeed, the political circus surrounding the speech provided us with our very own “Purim spiel” - whether it was the spectacle of House Majority Leader John Boehner inviting a foreign head of state to come to Congress and attack the elected president of the United States, or Netanyahu’s flagrant efforts to exploit the invitation for his own electoral gains, or the entire history of Netanyahu’s gratuitous jabs at President Obama (nor his unmitigated chutzpah in pretending otherwise)!