Image Source: Wikimedia Commons BY: NICHOLE CARTMELL ANCHOR:  JIM FLINK Israelis vote Tuesday and  current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is widely expected to win another term. Netanyahu — a conservative — has held office since 2009, but euronews suggests his re-election would take the country further to the right. “...but with a reduced majority. No party has ever secured an absolute majority in an Israeli election.” More than 30 political parties are competing for 120 parliamentary seats. These parties must win at least 2 percent of the total votes to secure seats. As for Netanyahu and his right wing coalition, the BBC reports they have advocated annexing large parts of the occupied West Bank and rejected the idea of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. A Jerusalem Post correspondent tells the BBC... “The non issues are the issues that they care about in England. Palestinians, settlements, peace, people aren’t talking about that.” According to CNN , Netanyahu’s campaign platform has focused on both the economy and Israel's security. Currently, Israel is dealing with a $4 billion budget shortfall. This election was actually called because of a failure to adopt a 2013 national budget. Iran’s potential nuclear power capabilities -- and nuclear weapons program -- also remains a problem for Israel. While Iran hasn’t been the sole focus of the campaign, Mr. Netanyahu has been quoted telling U.S. senators... "...my priority, if I'm elected for a next term as prime minister, will be first to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons..." And if these issues remain the focus of the new coalition government, many argue any two-state solution with Palestine could be out the door. A writer for Gulf News says ... “Unfortunately for Israel and the region, generations of Israelis are as myopic as Netanyahu, preferring military aggression to a peace process based on the 1967 borders.” And as Netanyahu looks to secure his third term it appears the opposition left is collapsing.   Slate says , that could be because of poor party leadership and demographic shifts. Whatever the cause, the division seems to highlight the problems facing Israel today. “The left sees the right as suffering from a misguided sense of victimization, whereas the right sees the left as a group of bleeding-heart apologists.” The BBC reports, final exit polls suggest Netanyahu’s coalition will actually lose a handful of seats. (SOC) ###