Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) called Thursday for a new round of general elections “to protect the Golan.” In a solidarity rally held in the Golan, Netanyahu expressed hope that the next elections would remove threats to Israeli sovereignty in both the Golan and Jerusalem.
Netanyahu refrained from discussing charges against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, which have led other MKs to call for new elections. He focused on Israel’s connection to the Golan instead, saying, “When you take a bulldozer to the lava rock here, what do you find? Syrian antiquities? No. Dozens of synagogues from the time of the Mishna and Talmud... The Jewish people’s connection to the Golan goes back thousands of years.”