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The Israeli cabinet unanimously voted, at its weekly meeting Sunday, in favour of holding early elections on January 22 next year, in response to Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal last week.
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JERUSALEM (EJP)---The Israeli cabinet unanimously voted, at its weekly meeting Sunday, in favour of holding early elections on January 22 next year, in response to Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal last week.
Netanyahu issued calls for an early election Tuesday, as he claimed that “in the face of the turmoil around us, security and economic, it is my obligation as Prime Minister to put the national interest above all. Therefore I have decided that for the good of Israel we must go to an election now as fast as possible”.
Having secured the compliance of his cabinet colleagues Sunday, he declared that “even during the three month election period, we will continue to act responsibly in order to safeguard the economy and, most importantly, to maintain Israelis’ jobs and even add to them”.
His words echoed Israeli President Shimon Peres’ response to the announcement, when he claimed the move for early elections was a “responsible” way of forestalling the inevitability of party political lines being drawn at a risk to the national interest and economy, by calling for the election period to “be an example of democracy and civility, without slander, with cross-party respect”.
Netanyahu has increasingly sought to distinguish Israel’s economy from that of its European counterparts, previously arguing that failure to reach consensus over Israeli policy on the Iranian nuclear threat and the continuing inability of the various coalition partners to reach agreement on 2013 budget proposals would place Israel at a similar risk to the “crumbling economies of Europe”.
Speaking of Israel’s unique position caught between European concerns and the emerging Arab Spring states, he added that “in the face of the regional upheaval and the global economic crisis, we must continue to uphold responsible economic and security policies because many challenges still lay before us”.
Responding to the myriad threats to Israel’s security, posed in particular by Iran, the President meanwhile preached optimism to an Israeli electorate faced with the deciding vote on serious issues at the polls in early 2013, arguing “we have our enemies, but also no shortage of options and opportunities”.