ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu has put Iran at the top of his re-election campaign, pledging
that halting Tehran's nuclear program would be his first priority as
premier.
"Who do (Israeli voters) think is the most suitable candidate to
deal with the Iranian threat? With the missile threat? With the threat
of terror?" he asked supporters in Jerusalem in a speech at the official
launch of his campaign for January 22 polls.
"We still have a lot ahead of us," he said.
"First
and foremost, we must stop Iran's nuclear program and the time for that
is slipping away ... That is my first mission as prime minister."
Israel,
the US and some European countries accuse Iran of seeking to acquire a
weapons capability under the guise of its nuclear energy program.
Iran denies the charge, saying its work is for peaceful purposes only.
At
a speech before the UN's General Assembly in September, Netanyahu
warned that if Iran continued work at the current pace, it could have
the necessary material for a first bomb by the summer of 2013.
In his speech on Tuesday night, Netanyahu expanded on what he termed
his government's economic achievements and laid out his future goals,
only briefly addressing the peace process.
"Our hand will continue
to be extended to our neighbours for true and mutual peace, while
continuing to insist on the state of Israel's vital interests -- I'm
telling you -- in the face of all the pressure," he said.
On
Monday, Israel approved the latest in a series of construction plans for
approximately 5000 Jewish homes in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
Palestinians
want east Jerusalem as capital of their promised state, and they --
along with the international community -- consider settlement
construction in east Jerusalem and the West Bank a violation of
international law.
"With God's help, we will continue to live and
build in Jerusalem, which will always stay united under Israeli
sovereignty," Netanyahu said.
Polls predict that Netanyahu's Likud
party, which is running on a joint list with the ultranationalist
Yisrael Beitenu faction of former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman,
will be by far the largest party in the next parliament.
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