Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose party came in second in national elections last week, is in line to return to power.
前以色列总理内塔尼亚胡已预定将重返权力核心。他的政党在上星期的全国选举结果中位居第二。
President Shimon Peres nominated Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu to be Israel's next prime minister and gave him six weeks to form a coalition government. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni narrowly won the popular vote, but the right-wing bloc that controls the Knesset, or parliament, backs Mr. Netanyahu.
以色列总统佩雷斯提名利库德党领袖内塔尼亚胡出任以色列下一任总理，并给他6个星期的时间筹组联合政府。外交部长利夫尼以极小的差距赢得普选，不过控制议会的右翼派支持内塔尼亚胡。
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Netanyahu said Iran's development of nuclear weapons is the greatest threat facing the State of Israel.
内塔尼亚胡在接受提名的讲话中说，伊朗发展核武器是以色列面临的最大威胁。
He said the major strategic and economic challenges obligate Israel to form a national unity government. He urged Livni to bring her centrist Kadima party into the coalition, but she flatly refused.
他说，以色列面临的主要策略及经济挑战需要以色列成立全国团结政府。他敦促利夫尼将她的温和派前进党带进这个联盟，不过利夫尼断然拒绝这一要求。
Livni said a Netanyahu government would bring a stalemate to the peace process and that she would not be fig leaf for his hard-line policies.
利夫尼说，内塔尼亚胡的政府将使和平进程停顿不前，她不愿意成为内塔尼亚胡强硬政策的遮羞布。
That may leave Mr. Netanyahu with no choice but to form a right-wing government that would support the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and oppose the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Since the two-state solution is a cornerstone of American policy in the Middle East, the U.S. and Israel could be on a collision course.
利夫尼的回应将使内塔尼亚胡除了筹组右翼政府之外别无选择。这个右翼政府将会支持扩大约旦河西岸的以色列定居点，并反对建立一个以耶路撒冷为首都的巴勒斯坦国。而两个国家--即以色列和巴勒斯坦国--的解决途径是美国中东政策的主要基石，所以美国和以色列有可能会走向相互摩擦的道路。 |