Jerusalem: Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert prepared Wednesday to form a coalition to fix Israel's final borders after his Kadima party won an election, which has dramatically redrawn the political landscape.
With nearly all votes counted, Kadima was poised to emerge the largest party in parliament only four months after its creation by Olmert's coma-stricken mentor Ariel Sharon, although it did not secure enough seats to govern alone.
US President George W Bush was among those who offered his congratulations but the moderate Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas responded to the result with a complete rejection of Olmert's plans to act unilaterally.
In a night of upsets which saw strong showings for a number of minor parties after the lowest turnout in Israel's history, the right-wing Likud that has dominated power for three decades was reduced to a humiliating fifth place.
The main headline of both mass circulation dailies trumpeted the "Big Bang" first triggered by Sharon back in November when he bolted Likud to form the centrist Kadima and promptly called an election a year ahead of schedule.
Sharon and then Olmert made clear they would use their next term in office to set the permanent borders of the Jewish state with or without negotiations with the Palestinians.
Olmert's separation plan could ultimately see Israel uproot around 70,000 settlers living in isolated West Bank settlements in an echo of the momentous pullout of the Jews from the Gaza Strip orchestrated by Sharon last year.
In return, Olmert wants to cement control over the big housing blocs, which are home to the rest of the quarter of a million Israelis who have settled in the Palestinian territory since occupation began in 1967.
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