Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kicked off the Likud's general elections campaign on Monday evening, delivering a rousing speech at the Tel Aviv Convention Center in which he vowed to reform Israel's system of government within 100 days of forming the next government, if he receives the mandate to head the next government after the March 17 elections. Addressing the hundreds of Likud members in attendance, Netanyahu officially presented the party's list for the elections, saying, "This is an experienced, responsible and serious list, which includes field operatives who are passionate about social issues and resolute on security. This is our list, this is the list of a ruling party. This is the team that must lead the people of Israel -- one large Likud against all of the Left." Netanyahu slammed the leaders of the Labor-Hatnuah list, saying, "Tzipi Livni and Buji [Isaac] Herzog will not withstand the pressure, and there is a lot of international pressure. They will be the ones to protect the security of Israeli citizens? They will stand up to Hamas? Hezbollah? Iran? They will surrender immediately to diktats. Not just because they are weak, but also because they want to capitulate. They just want to withdraw and concede." Netanyahu also talked about the regional situation in the Middle East. "The Left promised a new Middle East," he said. "But we now have an Islamic State Middle East. I say with regret that the Left is disconnected from reality. We are connected with reality. In our reality in the Middle East, Islamic fanaticism is washing over every corner, and any territory that we vacate will be seized by terrorist groups. I'm prepared to do many things for peace, but there is one thing I am not ready to do -- I will not let the State of Israel commit suicide. I will not let the security of Israeli citizens be placed in the hands of any entity other than the Israel Defense Forces." Netanyahu took Yesh Atid leader and former Finance Minister Yair Lapid to task, saying, "We had a major plan to move the IDF to the Negev, which would spur development throughout the entire south. High-rise buildings were constructed in Dimona and Yeruham, something which had never happened before. But then someone decided to hold up the plan, and this was the finance minister who stopped everything and halted funding." On his plan to reform the system of government, Netanyahu said, "We have broken down into small parties, none of which can govern and lead the country. If there is no change, we will go to elections again in two years. In the first 100 days of the next government, we will legislate a law that will ensure the system of government in Israel changes. In future elections, the leader of the largest party will automatically form the government, and it will be impossible to topple [the government], except in extreme cases, in which [the toppling of the government] is backed by a large majority of MKs." In response to Netanyahu's speech, the Labor-Hatnuah campaign issued a statement, saying, "Once again we heard Netanyahu, who was weak against Hamas and conducted negotiations with it, with the same worn-out slogans that have brought Israel to greater diplomatic isolation, intolerable social gaps and disgraceful poverty. Changing the system of government is a pathetic answer to the problems of the citizens of Israel. Israel's problem is not governance, but rather its leader." Yesh Atid also issued a response to Netanyahu, saying, "The prime minister opened his election campaign by spitting in the face of the Israeli public. There was not a word about the cost of living, the housing crisis in Israel, or the obligation to help the middle class and the poor in Israel. There was not a word about social budgets for the public. The reality to which citizens are exposed is that corruption starts at the top. Corruption is transferring 70 million shekels to a remote hilltop in Beit El, when it should be invested instead in defending the residents of the Gaza border area." Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On said, "The Left is not disconnected, Netanyahu is. [Netanyahu] has disconnected us from the world, disconnected us from values, and disconnected the young from the ability to buy an apartment. On March 17, we will disconnect him from his chair." Meanwhile, Channel 1 published the results of a poll on Monday showing that if the election were held now, Likud would receive 25 Knesset seats, followed by Labor-Hatnuah (24), Habayit Hayehudi (15), Arab parties (11), Yesh Atid (9), Kulanu (8), United Torah Judaism (8), Yisrael Beytenu (7), Meretz (7), and Shas (6).
Credit: Moshe Ben Simhon