ISRAEL: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says preventing nuclear Iran his primary challenge

Record ID: 397654

  • Title: ISRAEL: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says preventing nuclear Iran his primary challenge
  • Date: 23rd January 2013
  • Summary: RAMAT GAN, ISRAEL (JANUARY 22, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF JEWISH HOME PARTY LEADER NAFTALI BENNETT CELEBRATING WITH SUPPORTERS BENNETT SURROUNDED BY REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (HEBREW) HEAD OF THE JEWISH HOME PARTY, NAFTALI BENNETT, ADDRESSING SUPPORTERS SAYING: "There are no two narratives. There no two "truths". There is one truth and that truth is very simple. Greater Israe
  • Embargoed: 7th February 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA9YGKU29QZKBENMZO41VNN17D7
  • Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an election victory speech on Wednesday (January 23), said preventing a nuclear-armed Iran would be the primary challenge facing the new government he intends to form.

    "First, strong security in the face of the great challenges before us and the first challenge was and remains preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons," Netanyahu told a cheering crowd in his party headquarters in Tel Aviv.
    Former Foreign minister Avigdor Netanyahu, whose ultranationalist faction Yisrael Beiteinu ran on a joint ballot with Netanyahu, said: "I am happy that our two main goals have been achieved. The first goal - to ensure the national camp continues to govern Israel. The second goal - to ensure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secures an additional term."
    Exit polls showed Likud, emerging from Tuesday's (January 22) vote as still the biggest bloc in the 120-member parliament, with 31 seats, despite a drop in their support and a surprise surge by a new centrist party.
    Netanyahu said he intended to form as broad a governing coalition as possible, suggesting he would go beyond a traditional alliance with other right-wing and religious partners.
    The surprise star of Israel's election is an ex-television news anchor now the predicted head of the nation's second largest party, only months after he joined politics.
    Israeli television stations showed Yair Lapid's "Yesh Atid" party, the Hebrew for "There's a Future," winning up to 18 seats in the 120-member parliament, putting him in prime position to become a member of the country's next coalition government.

    "You didn't ask how I feel which is unfortunate, because had you asked me how I felt... (Reporters: How do you feel?) I will tell you that I am very excited and thank you so much for waiting and I will see you all at Beit Sokolov (party headquarters)," Lapid told reporters outside his home late on Tuesday.
    In an address at his party headquarters he said: "Great responsibility was laid upon our shoulders tonight. There was one sentence echoed throughout this election campaign, from Kiryat Shmona to Sderot, from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv from Metula to Eilat, everywhere we stopped there was always someone who stood up and said - don't forget us when you get there."
    Opinion polls had predicted fewer than a dozen seats for the silver-haired Lapid, 49, whose party attracted younger voters on pledges to seek social reform for a tax-burdened middle class, and abolish military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.
    Lapid built a party with an unusual mix of public figures including two moderate rabbis, an array of mayors and former municipal-level officials, plus a former head of Israel's Shin Bet security service and a fellow ex television journalist.
    Supporters broke out in dance at his Tel Aviv headquarters after television exit polls predicted Israel's national election had made his party the country's second largest, behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud faction.
    Also on Tuesday, Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett was greeted by cheering supporters at the party's headquarters in Ramat Gan after the far-right party was seen finishing 4th at exit polls.
    The right-wing millionaire who says a Palestinian state would be suicide for Israel addressed the cheering supporters hours after exit polls were published.

    "There are no two narratives. There no two 'truths'. There is one truth and that truth is very simple. Greater Israel belongs to the Jewish people," he said.
    Bennett, a former aide to Netanyahu who is said to have fallen out with his old boss, is now expected to face the Israeli leader across the cabinet table after the January 22 election.
    Commentators have suggested personal relations between the two party leaders may be testy, noting that Bennett's time in Netanyahu's office ended on a sour note, though publicly both men have remained tight-lipped on the matter.
    Labour party leader Shelly Yachimovich, whose party reached a third place according to exit polls, said she might form a block with Lapid against Netanyahu, she said.

    "There is a very good chance, a very good chance, that tomorrow morning Benjamin Netanyahu will not be able to form a government. There is a possibility, and I'll say it again - I will do everything in power to ensure it's success - to form a social government which will start a peace process," she said.
    The once dominant Labour party was projected to take third place with 17 seats, according to exit polls.
    Israel's main opposition party, Labour, has already ruled out a repeat of 2009, when it initially hooked up with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, promising to promote peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
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