Both the Likud and Labor are corrupted movements that most Israelis in my opinion resent. Israelis vote for what they have and in most cases they choose the best from the worst, not knowing that they are both the same. I would like to go back to the 1976 elections that brought Menahem Begin s Likud Party to power. I do remember that year very well, since I was heavily involved in it myself. That election is probably the most important one in Israel's history, since it showed that people were in fact unhappy with both parties and the old system.
All analysts seem to miss that important point.
If one tries to analyze all the following elections, one has to conclude that Israelis paid and continue to pay a very heavy price for a corrupted system of favoritism, a system that the Labor created 50 years ago and now highly used by all parties. The Shas ultra-orthodox party is another example of people who are confused and unhappy and so vote for something they feel they can identify with. Those who were unhappy with the system and felt that no-one represented them, Sephardic groups in this case, felt they could identify with this group. By supporting Shas, they created an abnormal party that is supposed to be ultra orthodox, but which is supported by many who are not orthodox, but can identify themselves with the Sephardic movement. The main parties never agreed to get together and change the election system, so the fanatics and the interest groups could not get the power they have.