Another tight election in Israel: Will the knives be out or defectors be kingmakers?

TEL AVIV - There appears to be no decisive outcome again in Israel after a second general election this year, leaving politics in the country in a deadlock. Backbenchers of the various parties can now determine Israel's political future.

For the first time since Israel's founding, there was no jubilation in any party headquarters after Tuesday's (Sept 17) poll, and rightly so. Israel's voters, who had voted in larger numbers than expected, once again left its Parliament paralysed.