Asked for their votes at a turning point in their history, Israelis were deeply divided. A slim majority chose parties keen to make dramatic steps toward solving the conflict with the Palestinians, be it through negotiations or unilateral moves to reshape Israel's borders.

But creating some unexpected power realignments that will reshape the country's political scene for years to come, nearly half of those who voted chose smaller, special-interest parties whose agendas were not primarily focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The results show that the elections were not about disengagement, because if you look at the support for the three major parties that purport to represent the general interest - Kadima, Labor, and Likud - they got only half the vote," say Ofer Shelach, a columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth.

Most of the other parties, while holding some views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, gleaned votes for other reasons, mostly on the basis of socio- economic, religious, or ethnic interests.

Israel's right, much of it opposed to concessions to Palestinian statehood aspirations, has experienced a stunning reversal of fortune. The once-mighty Likud party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, won just 11 seats.

Israel Beitenu (Israel Is Our Home), a far more nationalist party with a base among Russian immigrants, leapt into the country's No. 4 spot, all but anointing its leader, Avigdor Lieberman, as the new frontman of the Israeli Right. Next is Shas party with just one more seat in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. It was the choice among many religious Israelis of Sephardic - or Middle Eastern - origin.

The numbers are expected to add up to a center-left coalition, a sort of collage dominated by the two biggest parties in the picture: Kadima, founded by Ariel Sharon, and the left-wing Labor Party, who brought Israel into the Oslo process with the Palestinians.

Frustrations over ongoing socioeconomic problems allowed for the surprise success of the "Pensioners' Party," which promises to advance the interest of retirees who face an uncertain future in a country still struggling for a balance between social-democratic ideals and market-driven reforms.

"This election was billed as a referendum on disengagement, but it really wasn't, and it's difficult to get a reading on what these results mean," says Mark Heller, a political scientist at Tel Aviv University. "We don't really know where Shas stands, where the Pensioners stand," on the question of making additional pullouts from the occupied West Bank.

Amid this splintering of power, the constant at the center is Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Mr. Olmert, who took over as Kadima party leader after Mr. Sharon's stroke in January, will now be premier despite having won less than a quarter of the vote.

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