Netanyahu digs for election victory

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud leader who is the favourite in what is expected to be a close electoral contest tomorrow, planted a eucalyptus tree in the occupied Golan Heights yesterday, demonstrating the uncompromising posture he intends to take towards Israel's Arab neighbours.

Seeking to beat back a challenge from the Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, who has gained on him in recent polls, making the race too close to call, Mr Netanyahu warned that a victory for her centrist Kadima party would lead to a dangerous withdrawal from the strategic plateau overlooking the Sea of Galilee that was seized from Syria during the 1967 war.

Mr Netanyahu, also wary of gains by the far-right Yisrael Beytenu party, has fallen back on his favoured theme of being tough on terror and the most adamant in rejecting territorial concessions. His possible return to power for the first time since 1999, when he left office after a three-year tenure in which he brought the peace process with the Palestinians to a virtual halt, poses a major threat to the moderate Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas.

Related articles

• Donald Macintyre: It will be close, but Israel has lurched to the right
• Search the news archive for more stories

In other developments yesterday, a rocket fired by Palestinian militants hit southern Israel without causing injuries. The attack came despite intensified Egyptian-brokered contacts aimed at a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which Hamas leaders and Egyptian officials have said could bear fruit in days.

The Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, denied reports that there had been a breakthrough towards the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid more than two years ago. The Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, warned that Israel would have to pay a "heavy price" in terms of releasing Palestinian prisoners to gain Cpl Shalit's freedom.

Mr Netanyahu brought his son, Avner, to the Heights, along with the former army chief-of-staff Moshe Ya'alon, credited with crushing the Palestinian uprising and a possible choice for the post of defence minister. Eschewing the peace talks conducted by Mr Olmert with Syria through Turkish mediation, Mr Netanyahu vowed that Avner would "sit beneath this planted tree with his grandchildren". He added: "The Golan will remain in our hands only if Likud wins."

On Friday, Mr Netanyahu made a similar pitch at Beit Aryeh, in a West Bank settlement with a view of Ben-Gurion international airport, saying the elections boiled down to whether the area would remain part of Israel "or be taken over by Hamas and Iran".

These visits are last swipes at Ms Livni, whom Likud is portraying as soft on Israeli security, despite her sounding more hawkish against Hamas than other leaders during and after the Gaza war. Likud's election advertisements also claim she is not qualified to make tough decisions and that the job of premier "is too big for her".

Ms Livni's campaign team hit back by recalling the debacles during Mr Netanyahu's premiership, including a bungled assassination attempt on a Hamas leader in Jordan, the opening of an archaeological tunnel that caused Israeli-Palestinian fighting, and a divisive leadership style.