UPDATED ELECTION RESULTS

Sharon's Party Is Winner in Israel - Scott Wilson
The Kadima party led by acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert won 28 seats in the 120-seat Knesset elections Tuesday, in a vote that hinged on his plan to draw the country's final borders through unilateral withdrawals from the Palestinian territories. But the election, which drew one of the lowest voter turnouts in Israeli history, left Kadima with an uncertain mandate to move ahead. Olmert will have to enlist other parties to form a coalition government. The Labor Party finished second with 20 seats, while the religious Shas party finished third with 13 seats. The party Israel Is Our Home led by Avigdor Lieberman, an immigrant from Moldova, won 12 seats, while the Likud Party, led by former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, won 11 seats. Entering the Knesset for the first time with 7 seats is the Pensioners Party led by Rafi Eitan, a former Mossad agent involved in the 1960 capture of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann. (Washington Post)

See also Additional Election Results
National Union-National Religious Party - 9 seats, United Torah Judaism - 6, Meretz - 4, three Arab parties - 10 (Ynet News)

Olmert Pledges to Compromise, But Says Israel Won't Wait Too Long - Ravi Nessman
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday: "In the coming period, we will move to set the final borders of the State of Israel, a Jewish state with a Jewish majority....We will try to achieve this in an agreement with the Palestinians." "The time has come for the Palestinians...to relate to the existence of the State of Israel, to accept only part of their dream, to stop terror, to accept democracy, and accept compromise and peace with us." (AP/Forbes)

"It is time for the Palestinians to change their ethos, to accept compromise as soon as possible. If they manage to do this soon, we will sit and work out a plan. If not, Israel will take control of its own fate, and in consensus among our people and with the agreement of the world and U.S. President George Bush, we will act." (Jerusalem Post)