TIMES ONLINE: Israel was set for the return to power of Binyamin Netanyahu after the Likud leader was invited to form a coalition government yesterday.
Immediately after he was invited to become the next prime minister by President Peres, Mr Netanyahu lost no time in restating his warnings about a nuclear-armed Iran, calling it the greatest existential threat faced by Israel since its creation. His words came a day after the UN announced that Tehran had acquired sufficient uranium to build a nuclear bomb — a “red line” development Israel has said it will not tolerate.
Likud came second in last week’s elections to the Kadima party, led by Tzipi Livni, but Mr Netanyahu’s chances of forming a government are significantly greater. However, he may find himself at the head of a narrow, far-right coalition that is at war with itself and at loggerheads with the US.
His main partner will be the hardline nationalist party Yisraeil Beitenu, led by Moldovan Avigdor Lieberman. With the support of the remaining parties on the right — the ultra-Orthodox and settler factions — the new coalition will be able to count on 65 MPs in the 120-seat Knesset. >>> James Hider in Jerusalem | Saturday, February 20, 2009
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