- Title: ISRAEL-ELECTION/NETANYAHU VOTING Israeli PM casts vote in general polls
- Date: 17th March 2015
- Summary: JERUSALEM (MARCH 17, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU ENTERS POLLING STATION, SHAKING HANDS WITH POLLING STATION EMPLOYEES, WALKING TO VOTE NETANYAHU CASTING BALLOT (SOUNDBITE) (HEBREW) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, SAYING: "To prevent the rise to power of a left-wing party, there is only one
- Embargoed: 1st April 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Jerusalem
- City:
- Country: Israel
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVACZ4PBQU4CNQE37KY2TQGW7C6X
- Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast his vote on Tuesday (March 17) in highly contested general election at a polling station in Jerusalem.
Popularly known as "Bibi", Netanyahu, 65, is seeking a fourth term as prime minister as head of the right-wing Likud party.
Netanyahu, his wife and one of his sons joined the first wave of voters, casting his ballot in Jerusalem. He acknowledged in brief remarks to reporters that his opponents' lead had widened.
"To prevent the rise to power of a left-wing party, there is only one thing to do - close the gap, and vote for Likud," he said, hoping to rally religious-nationalist voters to his troubled Likud party.
He has made security a main issue of his campaign, straining a frayed relationship with the U.S. administration by speaking in Congress against a nuclear deal with Iran.
Netanyahu's policy of settlement-building on occupied land that Palestinians seek for a state, and the breakdown of peace talks with the Palestinians in April last year, have put him at loggerheads with many of Israel's traditional allies.
If Netanyahu can stay in power until July 2019, he would become Israel's longest-serving prime minister. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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