PM candidates hold Youtube/Channel 2 virtual debate

In the closest thing to a debate during the current election campaign, the three main candidates for the premiership arrived at the Channel 2 studio in Neveh Ilan, west of the capital, on Saturday evening and answered questions submitted by Internet surfers.

Binyamin Netanyahu said there would be no more disengagements under his leadership, Labor chairman Ehud Barak said the chances for the release of captured soldier Gilad Schalit were higher following the Gaza offensive, and Kadima head Tzipi Livni said that the Gush Katif evacuees were not being treated seriously, and committed to changing the situation.

First came Netanyahu.

"We live in a country governed by law, and the law should be respected. I support the uprooting of outposts via an agreement between the security establishment and the settlers. I think this is the right approach and it is better than a conflict," Netanyahu answered a woman who asked why she should send her children to the army when the government did nothing to remove illegal West Bank outposts.

"There is a double standard and hypocrisy; why don't I ever hear about the illegal construction on the road between Dimona and Arad and in the Galilee?" Netanyahu added.

One surfer asked why Netanyahu was speaking against the disengagement from Gaza when he had voted for it in 2005.

"I quit the government before the disengagement and because of it. I stood up at the moment of truth and quit. I will not lead another disengagement or any withdrawals," Netanyahu said.

When asked how would he treat the Israeli Arab sector he declared: "He who attacks the State of Israel should be punished, and he who helps it should be rewarded. We will work to promote harsher punishment of those who operate against the state. It is unacceptable that someone here identifies with terrorist organizations, and we will work against it. There are no rights without duties!"

Netanyahu also promised to invest more resources in culture, including in "establishing 50 cultural sites, museums and archeological sites. However, culture begins in education and children will not study the Nakba, but rather Israel's heritage, and the education minister in my government will stand up and sing "Hatikva," Netanyahu said, in a reference to current Science, Culture and Sport Minister Ghaleb Majadle.

Asked by Daliat al-Carmel resident Einat Halebi what he planned to do about the Iranian threat, Netanyahu said, "If I am elected, this will be my first mission, handling Iranian terror nests on the outskirts of Ashkelon and Beersheba and recruiting the entire international community for this mission. Iran will not arm itself with nuclear weapons."

He promised to work to create a broad unity government, "as I should have done as a prime minister [in 1996]. If I am elected, I will turn to all the Zionist parties to form a broad unity-government. We have tremendous challenges ahead of us."
Livni-i have...i will...i think....