Netanyahu takes on Ariel Sharon for Likud party leadership
(30.08.2005)

Former Israeli finance minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says he will challenge Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the Likud party leadership.

Netanyahu left the government in protest of the disengagement plan and announced his challenge during a nationally televised Tel Aviv news conference today.

Netanyahu, 55 said "The Likud today needs a leader who can unify the ranks, rehabilitate the ruins, and lead the Likud to victory" and said he believes he is up to the task.

Benjamin Netanyahu believes that the withdrawal from Gaza will create a launching pad for terrorism.

Sharon was critical of Netanyahu, saying that he is "someone who runs from responsibility" and that "Netanyahu is pressured easily, gets into a panic, and loses his senses...to run a country like Israel a leader needs to have reason and judgment and nerves of steel, two traits he does not have"

The next election will be in November 2006, unless the government dissolves before then.

 

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