Netanyahu: No Palestinian state if re-elected

In a last minute attempt to woo right-wing voters, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said Monday there would be no Palestinian state if he were re-elected.

Polling stations are to open at 0500 GMT on Tuesday for Israel's second snap general election in as many years in a ballot experts agree is likely to be a referendum on the Netanyahu years.

With his right-wing Likud trailing the centre-right Zionist Union in the final polls, Netanyahu said that if his rivals were elected security would be compromised and they would give up total Israeli control over Jerusalem.

We will continue to build, to fortify Jerusalem so its division will not be possible and it will remain united forever. - Israeli PM, Binyamin Netanyahou.

"We will continue to build, to fortify Jerusalem so its division will not be possible and it will remain united forever," he said on a tour of Har Homa, a settlement neighbourhood of annexed east Jerusalem.

Netanyahu, who is seeking a third consecutive term in office, vowed he would never allow the Palestinians to establish a capital in the city's occupied eastern sector and pledged to build "thousands" of settler homes.

The Palestinian Authority has been calling for occupied east Jerusalem to become the capital of a future state, and continued settlement building has incensed the international community, which sees it as an obstacle to peace.

Throughout his campaign, Netanyahu has repeatedly accused Zionist Union leaders Isaac Herzog and former peace negotiator Tzipi Livni of being ready to abandon Israel's claim to Jerusalem as its indivisible capital.

But, Netanyahu's most bombastic statement came when he was asked by the right-wing NRG website if it was true that there would be no Palestinian state established if he was re-elected.

"Indeed," said Netanyahu, who in 2009 endorsed the idea of two states living side by side.

He later told public radio that the two-state solution was now irrelevant, saying the "reality has changed" and "any territory which would be handed over would be taken over by radical Islamists".

Despite Netanyahu's vitriol, the Zionist Union is tipped to come out on top in the election.

Final opinion polls published late last week put the Zionist Union ahead with 25-26 seats with Netanyahu's Likud taking 20-22 in the 120-seat Knesset.

Security and Jerusalem

Netanyahu has based his campaign solidly on security issues, notably the Iranian nuclear threat, giving short shrift to economic issues which have played a central role in centre-right campaigning.

"If Tzipi and Bougie set up the next government, Hamastan 2 will be established on these hills here," he said in Har Homa, using the nickname of Labour leader Herzog.

If Tzipi and Bougie set up the next government, Hamastan 2 will be established on these hills here. - Binyamin Netanyahou.

"Hamastan" is a derogatory term used by Israeli politicians to refer to the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas since 2007.

On Sunday, Herzog dismissed Netanyahu's jibes and pledged to "safeguard" Jerusalem "in actions, not just words, more than any other leader".

Former prime minister and Labour leader Ehud Barak came out in support of Herzog, calling him "experienced and responsible" and someone who could be relied upon to ensure Israel's safety.

The United Arab List

United for the first time and set to become the third largest parliamentary bloc in Tuesday's election, Israel's Arab parties could play a key role in forming its next government.

The Joint List groups Israel's main Arab parties, including representatives from across the political spectrum, alongside the Jewish-Arab communist party Hadash.

The head of the list is Ayman Odeh, a 40-year-old lawyer well aware of the "great responsibility" upon his shoulders.

Odeh is a member of Israel's Arab minority who number more than 1.3 million and account for some 20 percent of the population of the Jewish state.

Our Joint List calls for the unification of all the weak and oppressed populations, regardless of race, religion or sex. - Ayman Odeh.

Arab Israelis are the Palestinians who stayed on their land when the state of Israel was established in 1948.

The Arab parties united this year after parliament approved a law raising the threshold for entry to the Knesset from two to 3.25 percent of the national vote.

At the time, the move was widely denounced as a ploy to keep the Arab parties out of parliament.

Instead it forced them to unite in a move Odeh says will allow them to offer a real alternative to main blocs such as the right-wing nationalist camp led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud and the centre-left led by the Zionist Union.

"We will be an alternative camp, the democratic camp - where Arabs and Jews are equal partners, not enemies," he said in an interview with Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

"Our Joint List calls for the unification of all the weak and oppressed populations, regardless of race, religion or sex."

The List is predicted to win 13 seats - third behind the Zionist Union and Likud- and thus be an influential player whether it enters into the government or leads the opposition.