The head of Israel’s main opposition Thursday promised to reignite the peace process as Prime Minister, suggesting a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict would enable Israel to play a more productive role in helping address the turmoil embroiling the Middle East.
“There is a unique strategic opportunity for Israel to align with moderate Arab states around us and to identify convergence of interests. And as such build strength in preventing dangerous, lunatic, horrible acts of terror,” Labor Party Chairman Isaac Herzog said in an interview with CNN.
Herzog’s Labor Party has been locked in a close race with Netanyahu’s Likud Party leading up to the March 17 parliamentary election. Netanyahu is campaigning on his strong national security credentials, portraying Herzog as weak and inexperienced to address Israel’s many security challenges.
Although his poll numbers have been slipping, slightly many Israelis say they still trust Netanyahu over Herzog to keep Israel safe.
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“Security is not only at the balance of the gun. It has to do with much more than this; it has to regional alliances with our neighbors such as Jordan and Egypt. It has to do with our strategic alliance with the United States. “
Herzog called Netanyahu’s decision to address Congress “a strategic mistake” and called on the Prime Minister to cancel his visit next week to Washington.
“I think he is preaching to the converted, ” Herzog said. “I’m worried about a bad deal and about caving into all sort of Iranian pressure as well. But I think it is more important to rebuild confidence and trust with those who are really doing the negotiations, including the P5 plus one and the US leadership in order to make sure they hear what we have to say — which is definitely legitimate.”
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