Screen shot of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving interview to Channel 2. Photo: Channel 2

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 this weekend Benjamin Netanyahu made his case for being re-elected, noting that strong electoral support for his Likud Party would help him defend Israel both diplomatically and militarily.

“On Election Day Israeli citizens will send a message, not only domestically but also to the international community,” he said.

“Do you know who will be paying attention to the election results?” Netanyahu asked. “[Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah [and Hamas chief Khaled] Mashaal, they’ll wait for polls to close and for results to be publicized. And they’ll want to know if the prime minister was strengthened or weakened.”

Also during the interview Netanyahu said “I am saying this in the clearest way possible: The Western Wall is not occupied territory, and I do not care what the United Nations says [on this matter].”

He referred to an incident that took place last week when he stood near the Tower of David in the Old City with foreign ambassadors:

“I said to them, would you accept it if you could not build in your capitals? My fundamental position is that we live in a Jewish nation; Jerusalem became that nation’s capital over 3,000 years ago. We will build in Jerusalem because it’s our right,” he said.

When asked by Channel 2 if he thought he could make peace with Mahmoud Abbas, he replied simply “I do not know.”

In another interview aired over the weekend Netanyahu told Channel 1 that “Had the Jewish people bowed to international pressure, the State of Israel would not have been created, the Six Day War would not have been fought, the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak would not have been bombed and Petah Tikva and Kfar Saba would never have been built.”