Binyamin Netanyahu will resume building in existing West Bank settlements if he is elected prime minister, the opposition leader told Walla! News on Sunday.
"I don't understand why there can be natural growth in Arab neighborhoods, but not in Jewish neighborhoods," he said. "There is a difference between the plans of a family that has more children and wants to close off its balcony and the building of additional neighborhoods. There is no reason why there shouldn't be development of existing [Jewish] neighborhoods."
The opposition leader reiterated that there was currently no chance of a peace deal with the Palestinian Authority and therefore, the only option was an economic arrangement. He said that after such an agreement had been kept properly, a peace deal could be examined.
Nevertheless, in recent closed conversations, Netanyahu has stated that in any peace deal, he would not evacuate Jewish neighborhoods.
He also proudly referred to construction in Jerusalem during his time as prime minister. "In Jerusalem, which is now being treated like a settlement, I built Har Homa, which protects Jerusalem from the South, and in addition, I also built the Ma'aleh Hazeitim neighborhood," he said.
Netanyahu repeated that Likud would not join a coalition built by new Kadima leader Tzipi Livni and urged her call elections.
"It is preferable to end the instability of the government soon instead of dragging out the issue for six months to a year and only then going to elections," he said. "Stability will only be possible when elections are behind us, not in front of us. Specifically for this reason, we must block all attempts to circumvent the voice of the electorate. When the people decide that I should lead, I will set up a stable government. Not going to elections guarantees instability."
Netanyahu emphasized that Israel must never come to terms with a nuclear-armed Iran.
"We must not in any way accept the idea of a nuclear Iran," he stressed. [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad talks of our destruction in order to prepare the world for this very possibility," he said. "Our policy must be clear - no to a nuclear Iran."
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