The Israelis are demanding a change in politics -- center-left instead of center-right, inward rather than outward-looking. They paved the way for that change in Tuesday's parliamentary election. Parties pledging a withdrawal from the West Bank got the most support. Voters hope the pullout will free up the energy and the resources needed to solve the country's problems.

Election victor Ehud Olmert has promised to redraw the country's borders in the coming years. He wants to withdraw from parts of the West Bank and dissolve dozens of settlements while annexing the larger ones.

The election sprung unpleasant surprises on a number of politicians. Olmert may have won but his support was considerably weaker than opinion polls had indicated. The Labor Party fared better than expected, and Olmert will now have to come to an arrangement with Amir Peretz, the former trade union leader who now leads the party.

The settlers' lobby, which had fought the pullout from the Gaza Strip last August, also suffered a rude awakening. Likud, which until recently had formed the government, has become irrelevant -- payback for its opposition to the Gaza withdrawal.

Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have reached the end of his political career. The Russian immigrant party, which has close ideological ties with Likud, scored well. But the right-wing camp will be too small to block Olmert and his coalition.

Tuesday's election marks the end of Israel's old political order of left versus right. In the 1990s, the left had tackled the conflict with the Palestinians by driving forward the peace process, while the right wing had favored resorting to military means. Both strategies have failed. As a result, Israel is now looking for a middle way. No real peace, but as little occupation as possible. And above all, to be left in peace by the Palestinians.

Giving up on Peace 

The Israelis have turned their back on the peace process. The days when the left dreamed of the "New Middle East" are over. Instead of negotiating about future co-existence with the Palestinians, the Israelis want a divorce, once and for all. They're not aiming for peace, merely for a means of conflict management, free of illusion, as proposed by Olmert, the election winner.

The so-called security fence is aimed at separating the two peoples from one another. How the Palestinians are supposed to survive when they are cut off from the outside world is of no interest in Israel. Instead of looking out for their Palestinian neighbors, Israelis want their government to fight poverty in their own country. Israel's focus is turning inwards.

But what's most astonishing is that despite the dramatic changes now faced by the country and the whole region, almost 40 percent of eligible voters stayed at home. The lack of interest isn't just explained by the absence of strong, charismatic personalities following the departure of Ariel Sharon. In the eyes of many Israelis politics is such a dirty business that they want no part of it, not even from a distance. The names of many politicians have been cited in connection with corruption cases. Some parliamentarians will even have to go to jail soon, among them the son of Ariel Sharon.

The parties that fought the election campaign on a platform of social justice were successful. More voters than ever before are demanding that the government concentrate on fighting poverty, improving working conditions and education.

Amir Peretz, the new leader of the Labor Party who wants to introduce the $1,000 monthly minimum wage, sees himself as head of a Social Democratic movement to "create a new society."

Perhaps the biggest surprise in this context is the newly formed Pensioners' Party, which managed to get 7 seats in its first election. The one-issue party has no conrete program but many good intentions. It owes its success at the ballot box to the increasingly pressing social problems in Israel, which are hitting the older generation especially hard.

The neo-liberal fiscal policies of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu severely hurt the living conditions of older people. The elderly, their children and grandchildren protested strongly against that deterioration. A large proportion of the elderly lives without pensions. People living in poverty now amount to 20 percent of the population, up from 15 percent in the 1990s.

But whether Olmert, Perez and the Pensioners Party can fulfill their election promises remains uncertain. The coalition could be brittle because Olmert got fewer than 30 seats and will be dependent on several coalition partners. The powerful government that Kadima founding father Ariel Sharon had hoped for has failed to materialize.