Right-wing Israeli leader Binyamin Netanyahu has been asked by Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres to form the next Israeli government, based on the outcome of their recent elections. Netanyahu heads the rightist Likud party, which favors expanded settlements on the West Bank and no further territorial concessions. Likud and American neoconservatives share the same policy goals and approaches to politics in the Middle East (war with Iraq, war with Iran, belligerent military philosophy)
In short, it's the perfect outcome for Hamas and Hezbollah, one which they can hold up as an emblem of an expansionist Israel seeking the elimination of any Palestinian state. It undercuts the influence of the more moderate Palestinian Authority, and could set the stage for another intifada.
