Netanyahu tries ‘scare tactics’ with voters
completion of a pipeline from Russia to Turkey. Erdogan addressed Putin as “my dear friend”, saying the two countries planned to expand the annual volume of their trade, from $25 billion (R352bn), to $100bn. TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed he was on a losing trajectory against his centrist opponents in an apparent effort to scare right-wing Israelis into voting for his Likud party in today’s general election.
“The media is trying to make you sleepy,” he said on Twitter. “They say ‘Netanyahu will be prime minister in any case.’”
He warned that if he didn’t get the backing of the majority of MPs in the 120-seat Knesset, President Rivlin would give the job of forming the government to the largest party.
The candidate most likely to be tapped as the next prime minister is the one who is able to form a coalition with enough parties for a government of at least 61 members.
If the election were to favour Netanyahu’s rival, Yair Lapid, who is the number two of Blue and White, he would only be prime minister in two-and-a-half years time, as part of a rotation deal with party leader Benny Gantz.