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Roundup: Israeli politicians make last-ditch efforts for more votes ahead of polls

Xinhua, March 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

On the eve of Tuesday's parliamentary elections, Israeli politicians were still trying to make their last-ditch efforts to court more supports, and beat their opponents.

The country's sitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed not to allow the Palestinians to have their own state if he gets reelected for another term.

In an interview with the NRG news website on Monday, Netanyahu repeated his warnings that Israel's withdrawal from occupied territories as proposed by his center-left rivals would offer Islamic extremists a bridgehead to attack Israel.

"I think that anyone who moves to establish a Palestinian state today, and evacuate areas, is giving radical Islam an area from which to attack the State of Israel," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu's Likud party has trailed the center-left Zionist Union led by Issac Herzog and Tzipi Livni in recent opinion polls, with the Likud projected to win around 21 seats, four seats less than the Zionist Union.

In another bid to attract more far-right votes, Netanyahu made a stop at the east Jerusalem Jewish settlement of Har Homa, promising to increase construction there.

Netanyahu's latest statements contradict his 2009 Bar Ilan University speech, in which he expressed his support for a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Also on Monday, Livni, co-leader of the Zionist Union, made a dramatic announcement, saying that she is willing to forego a premiership rotation deal with Herzog once elected.

Herzog and Livni agreed to take turns in assuming the role of premier when Herzog's Labor party and Livni's Hatnua party formed the Zionist Union in December.

Livni's surprise move is seen to keep supporters of Labor who are not enthusiastic about Livni becoming prime minister.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak Monday expressed his support for Herzog's bid to replace Netanyahu.

"I have known Isaac Herzog for decades," Barack said in a statement. "Herzog is a person of good judgment, experienced and responsible. I trust him and Israel's citizens can rely on him in any security matter on the agenda."

The polling will take place Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time and 5.8 million eligible Israelis will cast their ballots in more than 10,000 polling stations nationwide.

Israeli media outlets are due to broadcast exit polls at 10 p.m. local time (2000 GMT), with results expected on the following day.

Parties would then go into negotiations to see which candidate has the best odds at building a coalition. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin will then meet with heads of all political parties and see who has enough support to build a coalition. Endit