Israel at the Polls, 2006 Edited by: Shmuel Sandler, Manfred Gerstenfeld and Jonathan Rynhold The 2006 elections constitute a major redrawing of the political map in Israel due to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s exit from the Likud party and his creation of a new centre party, Kadima. Following Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, Sharon formed Kadima taking many former Likud MKs who supported the withdrawal with him. Several prominent members of the Labour party, including former Prime Minister Shimon Peres, also joined Kadima, as did other prominent figures such as the former head of the Internal Security Service, Avi Dichter. This book examines the impact of this recomposition of the political map. In particular, it focuses on the various political parties, the election campaign in the media and the main issues at stake in the election including: foreign and defence policies, social and economic issues, as well as, the issue of corruption. The impact of events in the Palestinian Authority and other external factors are also discussed. Finally, the challenges for the new government, in the wake of the election results, are analysed. This book was previously published as a special issue of Israel Affairs. Prof. Shmuel Sandler is currently serving as the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Bar-Ilan University, and is a fellow of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. In 1995 he became the incumbent of the Sara and Simha Lainer Chair in Democracy and Civility. He has published widely on Israeli politics and foreign policy, Ethnic politics, Religion and foreign policy. Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld is Chairman of the Board of Fellows of Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He is an international business strategist who has been a consultant to governments, international agencies, and boards of some of the world's largest corporations. He is also an editor of the Jewish Political Studies Review Dr. Jonathan Rynhold is a senior lecturer in the Department of the Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University and a Senior Research Associate at BESA Centre for Strategic Studies. He has published widely on Israeli politics and foreign policy, and on the wider international politics of the Middle East peace process.