They are a minority now in Israeli politics, at least according to the polls. But spare a thought this election day for the Israeli peacenik: how should he or she vote today? If it were a direct presidential clash between Likud's Bibi Netanyahu and Kadima's Tzipi Livni  the only two candidates with a realistic chance of becoming prime minister  then the choice might be straightforward. They would back Livni. After all, she believes in the two-state solution, with a Palestinian state alongside Israel, and has been negotiating with the Palestinians as foreign minister for the last 18 months, if not longer. Bibi meanwhile still rejects the very idea of a Palestinian state  which even George W Bush accepted  and rules out territorial compromise. But a simple choice of Tzipi over Bibi is not on the Israeli ballot today. Israel's is a parliamentary system with an extreme form of proportional representation, offering this year a record 33 parties to choose from. So which one should the dovish voter pick?  Some are plumping for Kadima, on the simple logic that Livni needs as many seats as possible to squeak ahead of Netanyahu and have a chance at forming a government. That's the position Ha'aretz  the paper of choice for liberal Israel  effectively adopted in its editorial on Tuesday morning, endorsing Livni as the best choice for PM.   But others are holding back, deterred by Livni's role as part of the ruling troika responsible for the military offensive in Gaza. What's more, Kadima has signalled its willingness to form a coalition with Avigdor Lieberman, the strongman whose race-baiting campaign has centred on his promise to strip Israel's Arab citizens of their citizenship  including their right to vote  if they refuse to swear an oath of loyalty to Israel as a Jewish state.  The obvious solution should be to vote Labour, once Israel's natural party of government and the home of the peace camp. The trouble there is that party leader Ehud Barak was, as defence minister, the co-author of Operation Cast Lead. What's more, Bibi has telegraphed pretty clearly that he plans to appoint Barak as his defence minister in a Likud-Labour coalition, so the Labour voter would end up with Bibi as PM. What's worse, Barak has not ruled out joining a government that includes Lieberman.  What's left? Meretz is the pure left choice, favoured by many in the media and academic elites clustered around north Tel Aviv. But it had a muddled stance on Cast Lead, supporting it first, then opposing it. It has a well-liked but unforceful leader and, since a centre-left coalition is unlikely, it will almost certainly be destined for opposition. And what if Livni loses to Bibi by a whisker? Plenty of Meretz types will feel guilty that they didn't hold their noses and give Kadima that extra push.  Some are going a stage further, backing the Jewish-Arab, onetime communist party, Hadash. It's become trendier this year among young leftists, and it had a clear line against the Gaza offensive from the start. But it, too, is destined for opposition and its advocacy of a single state  rather than a two-state solution  puts it beyond the pale for many on the traditional Zionist left.  So it's not an easy choice. Plenty of people here have asked how I would vote if I had the chance. The truth is I don't know; I'd be wavering between pragmatism and principle, between blocking Likud and Lieberman and a vote of conscience. I don't envy the doves of Israel their dilemma. Postscript added at the author's request on February 11 at 18:00: "I fear I may have mischaracterised Hadash's position. While many supporters of that party speak of Jews and Arabs eventually sharing a single state, Hadash's official stance calls for two states side by side, on the 1967 lines.