As Israelis head to the polls

As Israelis headed to the polls Tuesday, news outlets looked ahead at what’s in store for the new prime minister.

• The BBC provides an election-day primer on where the major candidates stand on the issues, including the two-state solution, Jerusalem and settlements.  
• Al-Jazeera reminds its readers about Israel’s "forgotten Palestinians," the Arab citizens described as "Palestinian citizens of Israel." A disclaimer reminds readers that the views expressed are those of the author and not the news service.
• Israel‘s daily Ha’aretz endorses Livni and provides a package of election-day stories:
• "It’s the system, stupid" is the headline of a Ha’aretz Op-Ed that encourages the next government to adopt a new government system, one in which the people elect a leader and representatives directly. Columnist Yoel Marcus also comments on "Israel’s distorted election system," saying, "With all our existential problems, we cannot permit ourselves to be ruled like a banana republic."
• "What started as one of the most boring, low-energy campaigns in memory has almost overnight turned into a political drama," says Ha’aretz correspondent Yossi Verter, saying election day is a time of reflection for the major candidates.
• Op-Ed writer Benjamin Hartman says Lieber-fear and Bibi-phobia could still make Livni prime minister: "The sad reality of the 2009 election is that for many Israelis, it is not at all a matter of picking the candidate you like the most, it’s not even a matter of picking the lesser of many, many evils. Rather, your vote is really just a tool to help stave off the person you hate or fear the most."
• The Huffington Post outlines the next prime minister’s domestic and international challenges.
• Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald says Israel has a right to choose the leaders it wants: "But as is also always true, other countries have the right — and, in the case of the U.S. as the enabler of virtually everything Israel does, the responsibility — to react appropriately.  It’s bad enough that we have tied ourselves so blindly and inextricably to Israel as it has existed over the past several years.  But an Israel led by Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman produces whole new responsibilities for the U.S. not to continue on this path of uncritical support for a government like that."
• The economy has not come up much an election campaign dominated by security issues, but it will be an issue that the new prime minister will have to deal with, Forbes reports.
• An Op-Ed in Germany’s Spiegel on-line says that only Israel’s political right-wing has a real mandate from the people to trade land for peace.
• An Israeli attorney explains in Ynet why he won’t be voting in this election. Also in Ynet, Israeli entertainer Shlomo Artzi offers his election day thoughts, bemoaning the fact that Israel has no leaders who are larger than life. 
• Google Israel has a special logo for election day. 
• A 21-year-old Israeli launches a campaign to increase voter turnout, and offers voters a distinctly Israeli confection, a Crembo, as a reward, Ynet reports.
• The BBC and Ha’artez show Israel going to the polls in pictures.
• Foreign journalists are expecting a difficult time selling the story of Israel’s general elections back home, Ha’aretz reports.
• "There is something counterintuitively similar in the rhetoric used by U.S. President Barack Obama and Israel Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman," says an Op-Ed in the Jerusalem Post. 
• The three major parties are already complaining about  mistakes made in the general campaign.
• In the Post, columnist Amir Mizroch provides the new prime minister with a to-do list.
• The Obama administration is waiting to see how the Israeli election result will affect life in Washington.