THERE are no official monster raving loony style parties in the Israeli general election, nor any candidates whose names come from obscure Monty Python sketches, writes David Horovitz in Jerusalem.
But while they may be earnest and sincere, and doubtless convinced of their own sanity, some do seem to veer alarmingly close to raving loony territory.
The big battle on May 29th is between the two candidates for prime minister, the incumbent, Mr Shimon Peres, and his challenger, Mr Benjamin Netnnyahu.
But Israel's system of pure proportional representation has traditionally encouraged all manner of minor parties to try their luck, and this year is no exception.
Several smaller parties hold seats in the outgoing Knesset, and will doubtless reappear next time. Among them are Labour's left wing junior coalition partner Meretz, and various Orthodox Jewish parties.
But 10 or possibly more of the other parties competing this time look to be headed for political oblivion. Rivalries among the would be representatives of Israel's 800,000 strong Arab population, for example, mean that no fewer than five separate parties are competing for the Arab vote.
Then there is a welter of new parties formed by serving Knesset members who no longer support the party they still officially belong to. A Labour Knesset member Ms Navah Arad, has defected to form a new faction campaigning for pensioners, while Mr Ephraim Gur has defected from the Likud to form a party fighting for immigrants' rights. But Mr Gur is one of Israel's least credible politicians, having previously defected from Labour to the Likud.
Then there is Mr Yosef Azran, booted out of his religious party, Shas, for displeasing the rabbis. Finally, we hue Rabbi Yosef BarGad, currently a member of the far right Moledet party, whose frequent eccentric interruptions to debates and overall unrelenting egotism are likely to make him the least missed former Knesset member after the election.
More likely to succeed are various new centrist factions, who, along with the religious, parties, may well hold the balance of power in the new Knesset.