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| Benjamin Netanyahu, in Campaign Remarks, Speaks of ‘Worldwide’ Effort to Defeat Him | Benjamin Netanyahu, in Campaign Remarks, Speaks of ‘Worldwide’ Effort to Defeat Him |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel told supporters that there is “a tremendous effort, worldwide, to topple” him as Israelis head to the polls next week, according to an audiotape broadcast Tuesday on Army Radio. | |
| Little context was provided for the 12-second clip of Mr. Netanyahu, speaking to activists in his Likud Party. But it came after weeks in which his supporters have accused President Obama of meddling in Israeli politics because a top strategist from Mr. Obama’s campaigns is advising a Tel Aviv group whose goal is to replace the current government. The strategist, Jeremy Bird, an architect of the grass-roots and online-organizing effort that propelled Mr. Obama to the White House, is consulting with the group, V15, that helped bring 35,000 people to an anti-Netanyahu rally this weekend in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square. | |
| Mr. Netanyahu, in turn, has been criticized in Israel and abroad for interfering in American politics by speaking about the Iranian nuclear program last week in Congress at the invitation of the speaker of the House, a Republican, and against the wishes of the White House. | Mr. Netanyahu, in turn, has been criticized in Israel and abroad for interfering in American politics by speaking about the Iranian nuclear program last week in Congress at the invitation of the speaker of the House, a Republican, and against the wishes of the White House. |
| The prime minister said during a visit to an Israeli military headquarters in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday that since that speech, “I get the impression that there are more and more voices, especially in the U.S. but also in other places, that support Israel’s position.” | The prime minister said during a visit to an Israeli military headquarters in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday that since that speech, “I get the impression that there are more and more voices, especially in the U.S. but also in other places, that support Israel’s position.” |
| A week before the elections, polls show the rightist Likud neck-and-neck with the center-left Zionist Union, and both camps are vying to pull votes from smaller parties and win over an unusually large pool that remains undecided. “The battle is very close, nothing is guaranteed,” Mr. Netanyahu told his party activists Monday. “It is not guaranteed because there is a tremendous effort, worldwide, to topple the Likud government.” | A week before the elections, polls show the rightist Likud neck-and-neck with the center-left Zionist Union, and both camps are vying to pull votes from smaller parties and win over an unusually large pool that remains undecided. “The battle is very close, nothing is guaranteed,” Mr. Netanyahu told his party activists Monday. “It is not guaranteed because there is a tremendous effort, worldwide, to topple the Likud government.” |
| Rafi Smith, a leading Israeli pollster, said Tuesday that the dynamics of the campaign had shifted in recent weeks, with a growing margin of voters calling for change even as the largest group sees Mr. Netanyahu as best suited for the top job. By creating the Zionist Union, Mr. Smith told a group of international journalists, Isaac Herzog of the Labor Party and Tzipi Livni of the small Hatnua faction “changed the atmosphere” from the last election, in 2013, when Mr. Netanyahu’s re-election was never in doubt. | Rafi Smith, a leading Israeli pollster, said Tuesday that the dynamics of the campaign had shifted in recent weeks, with a growing margin of voters calling for change even as the largest group sees Mr. Netanyahu as best suited for the top job. By creating the Zionist Union, Mr. Smith told a group of international journalists, Isaac Herzog of the Labor Party and Tzipi Livni of the small Hatnua faction “changed the atmosphere” from the last election, in 2013, when Mr. Netanyahu’s re-election was never in doubt. |
| “The main difference in this election is that we’re actually asking who is going to be prime minister of Israel,” he said. “In 2013, that was not the question. It was who was going to join Netanyahu in the coalition.” | “The main difference in this election is that we’re actually asking who is going to be prime minister of Israel,” he said. “In 2013, that was not the question. It was who was going to join Netanyahu in the coalition.” |
| Mr. Netanyahu made a rare, unpublicized campaign stop Monday at Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market, and on Tuesday gave a 35-minute interview to a small radio and television station in which he spoke mainly about Iran. In a sign of Mr. Herzog’s growing strength, Mr. Netanyahu focused his attacks on Ms. Livni, who is less popular, and under the Zionist Union agreement would rotate the premiership with Mr. Herzog. | Mr. Netanyahu made a rare, unpublicized campaign stop Monday at Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda market, and on Tuesday gave a 35-minute interview to a small radio and television station in which he spoke mainly about Iran. In a sign of Mr. Herzog’s growing strength, Mr. Netanyahu focused his attacks on Ms. Livni, who is less popular, and under the Zionist Union agreement would rotate the premiership with Mr. Herzog. |
| “Anyone who stays home is ensuring that Tzipi Livni, who is a candidate for prime minister, will be prime minister,” Mr. Netanyahu said. He also dismissed talk of uniting in a coalition with Zionist Union, which he said “contains activist elements that can only be called anti-Zionist.” | “Anyone who stays home is ensuring that Tzipi Livni, who is a candidate for prime minister, will be prime minister,” Mr. Netanyahu said. He also dismissed talk of uniting in a coalition with Zionist Union, which he said “contains activist elements that can only be called anti-Zionist.” |
| “Great God almighty, how can two such pieces be glued together — the Likud, which is such a national, liberal, Zionist movement, with such elements?” he asked. “Such a government would fall apart before it is formed. There are two options: either a paralysis government or worse, Tzipi Livni living on Balfour Street and running the country.” | “Great God almighty, how can two such pieces be glued together — the Likud, which is such a national, liberal, Zionist movement, with such elements?” he asked. “Such a government would fall apart before it is formed. There are two options: either a paralysis government or worse, Tzipi Livni living on Balfour Street and running the country.” |
| Mr. Herzog himself provided the response, saying on Israel Radio’s noon magazine that “Netanyahu is feeling pressured” and “shooting in all directions, making false accusations.” The Zionist Union has hardly mentioned the rotation agreement with Ms. Livni since its formation, and on Tuesday Mr. Herzog kept the focus on himself. | Mr. Herzog himself provided the response, saying on Israel Radio’s noon magazine that “Netanyahu is feeling pressured” and “shooting in all directions, making false accusations.” The Zionist Union has hardly mentioned the rotation agreement with Ms. Livni since its formation, and on Tuesday Mr. Herzog kept the focus on himself. |
| “I will replace him and I will form the next government,” Mr. Herzog said on the radio. | “I will replace him and I will form the next government,” Mr. Herzog said on the radio. |
| At his own campaign event Monday evening in the Tel Aviv suburb of Petah Tikva, Mr. Herzog more frequently used the plural pronoun “we,” referring not just to Ms. Livni but to the slate’s designated candidates to lead the defense and finance ministries, who joined him on stage. “We’re the only alternative to the regime,” he told a group of about 150. “We have answers that are complete and to the point. We will do everything to unite the nation and not break it up.” | At his own campaign event Monday evening in the Tel Aviv suburb of Petah Tikva, Mr. Herzog more frequently used the plural pronoun “we,” referring not just to Ms. Livni but to the slate’s designated candidates to lead the defense and finance ministries, who joined him on stage. “We’re the only alternative to the regime,” he told a group of about 150. “We have answers that are complete and to the point. We will do everything to unite the nation and not break it up.” |
| As he has throughout the campaign, Mr. Herzog declined to answer a voter’s question of whether he would consider a unity government with the Likud, explaining that he had learned in politics “never to say no in advance.” | As he has throughout the campaign, Mr. Herzog declined to answer a voter’s question of whether he would consider a unity government with the Likud, explaining that he had learned in politics “never to say no in advance.” |
| “I want to make it clear: I’m here to beat Netanyahu and send him home,” Mr. Herzog said. | “I want to make it clear: I’m here to beat Netanyahu and send him home,” Mr. Herzog said. |
| “If we are big enough,” he added in an attempt to pull people away from other center-left parties, “then we’ll be able to put together a normal coalition.” | “If we are big enough,” he added in an attempt to pull people away from other center-left parties, “then we’ll be able to put together a normal coalition.” |