While Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud party won by a landslide in the real Israeli elections on Tuesday, for the 520 Brandeis students who voted in the mock elections, Meretz was the most popular choice. Meretz is a left-wing social-democratic secular party that promotes peace through the dismantlement of settlements and withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Likud is opposed to dismantling settlements and wishes to negotiate peace with the Palestinian leadership.

Twenty-seven percent of the Brandeis voters picked Meretz; 22 percent, Likud; 19 percent, United Arab List; 15 percent, Labor; 4 percent, Shinui; 4 percent, National Religious Party; 2 percent, Shas; 2 percent, Green Leaf Party; 1 percent, National Union; 1 percent, Hadash; 1 percent, Tzomet; 1 percent, Flame; 1 percent, Herut; 1 percent, Father's Heritage Party; and 1 percent, Yisrael B'Aliya.

According to Zionists for Historical Veracity (ZaHaV) co-founder Yoni Goodman '05, the mock Israeli election "made people aware of a very complicated political process that goes on in Israel."

Following the mock Israeli election at Brandeis on Jan. 28, ZaHaV continued the "Educational Series on Israeli Democracy" in the Shapiro Campus Center Atrium from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a lecture about the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The guest speaker, Kenneth Spiro, was a teacher, rabbi, licensed tour guide for the Israel Ministry of Tourism and author of "WorldPerfect: The Jewish Impact on Civilization." Spiro is currently traveling throughout the country to college campuses, synagogues and federations, teaching a variety of courses. Spiro gave the lecture "Worlds in Collision: Israel, the Middle East and the West" as part of ZaHaV's "Educational Series on Israeli Democracy."

"I thought he was a spectacular speaker. He was able to give a historical perspective to the conflict, which is important because that's what many people were missing," said Ari Stein '04, coordinator of the Educational Series on Israeli Democracy.

Originally, ZaHaV had intended to hold a discussion session with professors regarding the results and impact of the election today. That segment of the program, however, has been postponed to an as-of-yet undetermined date.