Binyamin Netanyahu targets Iran after he is appointed Prime Minister
(Kevin Frayer/AP)
Binyamin Netanyahu said Iran constitutes the greatest threat ever faced by Israel
David Byers and James Hider, in Jerusalem
Binyamin Netanyahu described Iran as the greatest threat that Israel has ever faced and failed to mention stalled talks with the Palestinians after he was asked to be the country's new Prime Minister today.
In a speech made outside the residence of President Shimon Peres, the Likud leader said that protecting Israel would be his greatest responsibility as leader, and condemned "formidable" challenges posed by the Islamic Republic.
However, he did not once mention the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process or a two-state solution throughout his address, omissions that will cause concern within an Obama administration determined to advance the peace process.
The Likud leader held a brief press conference alongside President Peres after he was appointed to form a coalition government, despite only finishing a close second in Israel's election.
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"Iran is seeking to obtain a nuclear weapon and constitutes the gravest threat to our existence since the war of independence," Mr Netanyahu said.
Referring to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in south Lebanon, Mr Netanyahu said: "The terrorist forces of Iran threaten us from the north. For decades, Israel has not faced such formidable challenges.
"The responsibility we face is to achieve security for our country, peace with our neighbours and unity among us."
He spoke after the UN announced yesterday that Iran had enriched sufficient uranium to amass a nuclear bomb – a third more than previously thought. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has caused alarm in the West over its apparent threats to Israel and support for radical Islamist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.
Mr Netanyahu's selection to form a coalition comes despite a narrow defeat in Israel's general election by Tzipi Livni of the centrist Kadima party, who had pledged to advance the peace process with the Palestinians.
After taking soundings from all political parties, Mr Peres judged the Likud leader to have a significantly better chance of building a viable coalition after he won the backing of Avigdor Lieberman's ultra-nationalist Yisrel Beitenu party, which finished third in the national poll.
President Peres said today that, overall, 65 out of 120 seats in Israel's Parliament, the Knesset, backed Mr Netanyahu.
However, concerns arose within minutes of his appointment as to how viable any coalition led by Mr Netanyahu would be, with both Kadima and Ehud Barak, the Labour leader, appearing to choose going into opposition rather than joining his coalition.
This would leave Mr Netanyahu relying on the nationalist Mr Lieberman, who has advocated deporting Arab Israelis who fail to swear an oath of loyalty to the state, and the ultra-orthodox Shas party, whose main focus is the funding of its religious seminaries and schools.
There are fears that Shas and Yisrael Beitenu may also clash with each other in any future coalition, as Mr Lieberman – a staunch secularist – strongly opposes religious schools and seminaries and wants to introduce civil marriages to appease his secular Russian support base, something that Shas staunchly opposes.
A similarly narrow coalition, formed by Mr Netanyahu in 1996, lasted only two years before collapsing after right-wing parties withdrew their support following territorial concessions to the Palestinians.
Making a last-ditch attempt to avoid what many Israelis would regard as an illegitimate government, Mr Netanyahu used his speech to make a final plea for Ms Livni and Mr Barak to join his administration.
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"I call on Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni and Labour Party chairman Ehud Barak and I say to them – let’s unite to secure the future of the State of Israel," he told reporters.
"I ask to meet with you first to discuss with you a broad national unity government for the good of the people and the state."
Yet, Ms Livni appeared to have ruled the move out, saying that she would not support a leader who would prevent progress in the peace process. Mr Barak has already declared that Labour should go into opposition to rebuild itself.
"I will not be able to serve as a cover for a lack of direction. I want to lead Israel in a way I believe in, to advance a peace process based on two states for two peoples," Ms Livni said, after her final meeting with President Peres.
The new administration would also run into immediate conflict with President Obama who has urged a speeding up of the peace process and has tried to cool hostile rhetoric with Iran.
Instead of territorial compromise, Mr Netanyahu has indicated that he prefers economic development measures in the West Bank that allow Israel to maintain continued security control over borders and no dismantling of settlements.
Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate Palestinian President, this afternoon threatened a complete freeze in relations with any Israeli state led by a politician who does not believe in the two-state solution. This would be disastrous for the West, which has pumped billions into the West Bank in order to prop up his authority in anticipation of a future Palestinian state being built there.
"We will not deal with the Israeli government unless it accepts a two-state solution and accepts to halt settlements and to respect past accords," Nabil Abu Rudeina, President Abbas's spokesman, said.
Binyamin Netanyahu targets Iran after he is appointed Prime Minister - Times Online
