Word: netanyahu
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Early polls appeared to show that Netanyahu, 59, would be a sure winner. His hammering on about the many military threats to Israel made his lead look insurmountable. "There is no choice but to uproot the Iranian-backed regime in Gaza," he told a Wednesday campaign rally. But by the weekend, Netanyahu's lead in the polls was slipping. Livni was right behind him, and gaining...
...Netanyahu's support may also be eroding because Israeli right-wingers have found a new champion, Avigdor Lieberman, 50. A Moldovan-born immigrant and ex-nightclub bouncer, Lieberman is denounced by the leftist Israeli press as "a racist" and a nationalist in the mold of Russia's Vladimir Putin. He wants Israeli Arabs to swear loyalty to the Jewish state or lose their voting rights; and he is demanding that borders be re-drawn so that more than 100,000 Israeli Arabs, against their will, would become part of a future Palestinian state. Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party is expected...
Israeli voters are also worried that Netanyahu - and his objections to a proposed Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza - may clash with the Obama Administration. Otherwise, the ex-premier, with his flawless American accent (he went to M.I.T.) and mannerisms, is media-ready for the U.S. Netanyahu says he will refuse to stop expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and to share Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Both are seen as key to an accord with the Palestinians. Netanyahu also says Israel will stop Iran from building nuclear weapons, by force if necessary...
...Israeli press has often repeated a quote from ex-President Bill Clinton, that Netanyahu "thinks he's the superpower and we are here to do whatever he requires." Few Israelis want to their new premier to jeopardize their country's special relationship with Washington. The more moderate Livni and Barak are seen as less likely to rile the Obama Administration...
...fourth of Israel's 5.2 million voters are still undecided, but if Tuesday's results mirror the earlier polls, Netanyahu is likely to lead a rightwing coalition cobbled together with Lieberman's party, along with the ultra-religious and nationalist parties, all of which oppose giving up land to the Palestinians for a future state, a solution pushed by the U.S. and the international community...