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Netanyahu Calls for Early Elections in Israel
Source: New York Times
Netanyahu Calls for Early Elections in Israel
By JODI RUDOREN
Published: May 6, 2012
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday called for early elections, vowing to win a “renewed mandate” and “form the broadest government that is possible” to “guarantee the future of the people of Israel in the land of Israel, for eternity.”
“Political instability always leads to extortion and populism that undermine the defense and social economy, and I will not lend a helping hand to an election campaign that will stretch over the course of a year and a half and hurt the country,” Mr. Netanyahu, 62, said in a brief speech, responding to stirrings in recent weeks among his coalition partners and his opponents.
“It is better to have a short election campaign of four months that will restore political stability,” he said.
The speech, delivered at the annual convention of Mr. Netanyahu’s right-leaning Likud Party in Tel Aviv, was the prime minister’s first public appearance in a week, following the death of his father. But the plan for early elections has been obsessively discussed here for days, and Parliament was expected to dissolve itself on Monday, with the popular vote scheduled for Sept. 4, rather than October 2013.
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By JODI RUDOREN
Published: May 6, 2012
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday called for early elections, vowing to win a “renewed mandate” and “form the broadest government that is possible” to “guarantee the future of the people of Israel in the land of Israel, for eternity.”
“Political instability always leads to extortion and populism that undermine the defense and social economy, and I will not lend a helping hand to an election campaign that will stretch over the course of a year and a half and hurt the country,” Mr. Netanyahu, 62, said in a brief speech, responding to stirrings in recent weeks among his coalition partners and his opponents.
“It is better to have a short election campaign of four months that will restore political stability,” he said.
The speech, delivered at the annual convention of Mr. Netanyahu’s right-leaning Likud Party in Tel Aviv, was the prime minister’s first public appearance in a week, following the death of his father. But the plan for early elections has been obsessively discussed here for days, and Parliament was expected to dissolve itself on Monday, with the popular vote scheduled for Sept. 4, rather than October 2013.
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Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/world/middleeast/netanyahu-calls-for-early-israeli-elections.html
