I had an interesting conversation with an Israeli of Yemenite extraction...
in his 40's parents born in Yemen, migrated to Israel, almost all the children came to Philadelphia for business/personal reasons…
We spoke just before the election and he wanted Bibi OUT in the worst way, and thought he would lose…was pretty sure he would lose. What he said before the election was interesting…he was marginally concerned that the Left had been too harsh in its criticism on Likud; that the moderates who were swinging away were so outraged by the perceived exaggerations that they would swing back. The liberals, so to speak, were always going to vote with Labor, so the populous of course, resembles that of the US: the Independents control the outcome in national elections.
I saw him right after the results came in. His first remarks to me were: well, I guess we were both wrong - no one figured the wide margin though, two or three seats here or there make a big difference in parliamentary outcome. That being said, he excoriated his own side for demonizing the Right in the way that they did: accusing them of implementing draconian measures in personal existence, etc. He said that one thing the Israelis are not, is believing that kind of extremism is going to occur in their society.
What he did say of interest was that despite what you might read in the US press, the country is virtually 100% unified if threatened or perceived to be threatened by another country or countries. This is inculcated from before birth. anyone who thinks that the Israelis are going to just roll over and play dead is entirely mistaken. When it comes to the military, there is little doubt as to the policy or the resultant call-up and troop deployment. Fascinating fellow and remarkable family.