In reality, Sharon owes his victory not to any mass enthusiasm for his policies, but rather to the lack of any alternative political perspective on offer. Almost a third of the electorate stayed away from the polling stations. In what was the lowest ever turnout in an Israeli general election, only 68.5 percent of the country’s 3.2 million voters cast ballots—a sharp drop from the 1999 general election, when turnout was 78.9 percent. In 1996, turnout was 79.3 percent.

Only about one sixth of the total electorate actually voted for Likud. This accounts for the apparent paradox between Sharon’s electoral victory and opinion polls, which showed majority support for an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories and a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians.

Shas’s decline further underscores that the election results do not reflect a general rightward shift in the electorate, but rather a profound alienation from official politics.