COVERITLIVE.COM

8:36	philly.com - Trudy Rubin will be here at 1 p.m. to answer your questions and discuss the Israeli elections and other international issues. Until then, please submit your questions and comments below.

12:59

[Comment From Paul Hogan]
Does this mean the end of the two-state solution?

1:03

Trudy Rubin - Paul,
The results of the Israeli elections will make it very hard for the Obama team to restart peace talks. It will probably take six weeks for an Israeli government to be formed, and the resulting coalition government will almost certainly lean to the right and be strongly opposed to giving back any more land to the Palestinians.

1:03	[Comment From George] How will the election be resolved? Who do you think will end up winning?

1:05

Trudy Rubin - George,
At this point it looks like Benjamin Netanyahu, the more hawkish candidate, is more likely to be able to put together a coalition that will have the required 61 or more seats in parliament. President Shimon Peres must decide whether to give first crack to Livni, whose party barely edged out Netanyahu, or to let the latter try first to form a government because he can clearly put together a bigger coalition.

1:06	[Comment From Paul Hogan] How will the U.S. deal with the new government of Israel?

1:07	Trudy Rubin - Paul, with difficulty. If it's Livni, she will have to align with right wingers who are against a Palestinian state. And if it's Netanyahu, he is openly against concessions to the Palestinians or talks with Syria over the Golan Heights.

1:07	[Comment From Josh] Which candidate / party would be better for the overall welfare of the region? Who do you hope wins?

1:09

Trudy Rubin - Josh, I beleve Livni understands better that Israel must find a two state solution, because otherwise it will be left ruling over 3.5 million Palestinians by force. I'm not certain Netanyahu grasps that. No one imagines such a solution could be arrived at easily, but if there is no progress towards it, Israel' situation in the region, and the region as a whole, will suffer.

1:09	[Comment From Kevin] I dont think Obama has Israel's interests in mind. Israel should not be giving God's land back period. Happy Netanyahu is going to win.

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