2007年VOA标准英语-Israel's Netanyahu Vows to Win Premiership Afte

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
15 August 2007

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has won re-election as leader of the right-wing Likud party. But as Robert Berger reports from VOA's bureau, some analysts² describe it as a limited victory because of a respectable showing by a far-right wing opponent.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 14 Aug 2007

Hawkish³ opposition⁴ leader Benjamin Netanyahu won the chairmanship of his Likud party by a landslide⁵, capturing 73 percent of the vote. He said the next stop is the prime minister's office.

He told Israel Radio that his election gives the entire nation hope for a future that is better and more secure.

Mr. Netanyahu is known as favoring tough security policies, and he has soared in the polls since last year's Lebanon War, which an official inquiry⁶ described as a failure. As a result, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's popularity has plunged⁷. National elections are not due until 2010, but if Mr. Olmert's fragile government collapses⁸, early elections could take place next year.

But Israeli analyst¹ Gil Hoffman says do not count Mr. Olmert out just yet.

"Ehud Olmert is the ultimate survivor⁹. He is just like the state of Israel, more resilient than people give him credit for," said Hoffman.

In fact, Hoffman notes that Netanyahu's victory was overshadowed by a respectable showing by his challenger Moshe Feiglin, who won 23 percent of the vote. Feiglin is a far-right wing settler who opposes peace talks with the Palestinians and seeks to expand Jewish settlements throughout the West Bank, or what he calls the biblical Land of Israel.

Hoffman says Feiglin has contributed to an image of the Likud as a party of extremists.

"And that's not something Netanyahu wants if he wants to appeal to the center of the political map," he said.

Netanyahu needs the votes of Israelis in the center if he wants to win re-election, so he has sought to project a more moderate image. Though he opposes a Palestinian state in most of the West Bank, he says he would agree to peace talks and territorial¹⁰ concessions¹¹, if the Palestinians keep their commitments to fight terrorism.

1 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

2 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

3 hawkish   

adj. 鹰派的, 强硬派的

参考例句：

• My staff's advice that first day was amazingly hawkish. 在第一天，我的僚属们的意见是令人吃惊的鹰派意见。
• Antiwar groups fear Barack Obama may create hawkish Cabinet. 反战团体担心巴拉克·奥巴马可以创建强硬派内阁。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

6 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

7 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

8 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

9 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

10 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

11 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。