The fallout from Israel’s election this week continues to feature in the dailies. A report in the Telegraph repeats a story from Yediot Ahronot which claims that Likud Party officials hired ‘cheerleading’ members of the public to attend the party’s victory rally on election night, such was the fear within the party that disappointing results would produce an embarrassingly low turn-out of supporters. The joint Likud-Beitenu list, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, was elected as the Knesset’s largest faction, but won far fewer seats than party leaders had hoped for. Meanwhile, in the Independent, Adrian Hamilton writes that the vote showed that Israelis are turned off by the prospect of extremism.

Meanwhile, the online editions of the Guardian, Financial Times and Independent all report on the results of Wednesday’s election in Jordan, which saw independent but largely pro-government candidates win most of the 150 parliamentary seats. Government sources suggested that there had been a turnout of 56 per cent, although the political wing of the country’s Muslim Brotherhood, which boycotted the vote, claimed that this figure was vastly over-inflated. The online edition of the Telegraph reports comments made by US Ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, who claims that President Assad’s mother and other members of his inner circle have fled Syria in order to pre-empt the regime’s collapse.

The Israeli media this morning focuses on the initial coalition talks which took place yesterday between Netanyahu and Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid, the leaders of the two largest parties following Tuesday’s election. An official statement said that they had discussed the “challenges facing the country,” but this morning’s headlines highlight the dilemmas facing the two leaders. Sof Hashavua claims that Netanyahu wants the ultra-Orthodox party Shas included in the coalition, while Lapid prefers the inclusion of the right-wing Jewish Home party. Meanwhile, Yediot Ahronot suggests that Netanyahu has offered Lapid the choice of becoming either the country’s next foreign minister or finance minister. Israel Radio News reports that Labour Party leader Shelly Yachimovich yesterday reiterated to Netanyahu by phone that she intends to lead a fighting opposition to his leadership. Meanwhile, Maariv publishes a poll indicating the coalition preferences of the Israeli public. The survey claims that 38 per cent of respondents prefer a coalition consisting of Likud-Beitenu, Yesh Atid and Jewish Home over two other options provided, while 44 per cent apparently indicated that they would like to see Shas in government. Yediot Ahronot publishes the final election results which were confirmed yesterday, giving Jewish Home an extra seat than previously estimated at the expense of the Raam-Tal list. Israel Radio News reports that the confirmed turn-out for Tuesday’s poll was 67.8 per cent.

Away from the aftermath of the elections, Haaretz and Israel Radio News report that incoming US Secretary of State John Kerry warned yesterday against the danger of closing the window to a two-state solution. Haaretz says that Kerry will soon travel to the region and attempt to re-start talks between Israel and the Palestinians.