Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his Likud party's election campaign on Thursday with a speech focused on security, saying he and his party "are the only ones who can guarantee Israel's security." Opinion polls show the Oct. 27 elections are likely to be close, with the bloc led by Netanyahu and his far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies squaring off against that of his main opponent, centrist Gadi Eisenkot, who is backed by parties from both the right and the left.
Netanyahu opens Likud election campaign with security-focused speech
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his Likud party's election campaign on Thursday with a speech focused on security, saying he and his party "are the only ones who can guarantee Israel's security." Opinion polls show the Oct. 27 elections are likely to be close, with the bloc led by Netanyahu and his far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies squaring off against that of his main opponent, centrist Gadi Eisenkot, who is backed by parties from both the right and the left.
Netanyahu has come under fire for his government's failure to prevent the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which the source described as the deadliest in the country's history. In Thursday's speech he listed Israeli military operations carried out in Iran, Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip since 2023.
He said: "The mission must be completed, we must bring down the Iranian regime and totally destroy Hezbollah and Hamas." He also accused his rivals of wanting to make "territorial concessions," and pointed to Israeli troops in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza as evidence that "we take land instead of giving it."
The prime minister repeated his refrain that he "has changed the face of the Middle East," vowing to change it yet again, without offering specifics.
Netanyahu heads the most right-wing government in Israeli history, the source states. It says he has led the country into a series of wars while ramping up construction of settlements — deemed illegal under international law — in the occupied West Bank, where violence has surged since the Gaza war began.
He is the first head of government to face a criminal trial, with several corruption charges levelled against him, which he denies.
- The source does not state the year of the Oct. 27 election.
- The source does not name the pollster or give the figures behind its statement that opinion polls show the race is likely to be close.
- The source does not state which territorial concessions Netanyahu attributes to his rivals, or any response from the rivals to that accusation.
- The source does not specify the corruption charges against Netanyahu or the stage of the trial, beyond stating that he denies them.
- The source does not state what further changes to the Middle East Netanyahu pledged to make.
Read the original at Arab News