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Netanyahu Not to Run for Premier
Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today(Dec.19) he will not run for premier in the upcoming election.
Netanyahu said he would not run until the parliament agrees to go to the voters as well. But the Knesset voted against dispersing itself, 68-48, and instead approved another bill to permit Netanyahu to run, since he is not a Knesset member.
But the former prime minister insisted he would not take up the challenge without general elections as well.
"Because the Knesset didn't have the courage to answer the will of the public and put itself up for new elections, I decided to fulfill my promise," Netanyahu said in a statement." I will consider running once the Knesset disperses itself."�
The decision meant Prime Minister Ehud Barak will face the leader of the opposition Likud party, Ariel Sharon, in Feb. 6 elections. Former Prime Minister Shimon Peres is seriously considering running as well, Israel radio reported today. The winner will form a coalition in the Knesset as its makeup stands now.
Netanyahu could re-enter the political scene if the Knesset where Barak does not have a majority disperses itself in the coming months. Lawmakers from both sides of the political spectrum warned Monday that whoever becomes premier will have a tough task working with the existing, fractious Knesset.
After the parliament rejected Netanyahu's demand that it dissolve itself, Barak told reporters that he was pleased that the house had saved the people from what he called unnecessary elections.
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