Netanyahu Stands Firm on Congress Talk, Rebuts Media Attacks

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will not cancel his March 3 address to Congress nor will he form a government with leftists.

According to Israeli media, Netanyahu believes talk of an impending agreement with Iran makes it imperative to speak in a public forum about what's at stake for Israel and the rest of the world should the Islamic Republic become a nuclear threshold state.

Neither the Obama administration's boycott of the address or the widespread media campaign to postpone the talk deterred him.

Meanwhile, in a Facebook post Saturday evening, Netanyahu said the unbridgeable ideological differences would prevent him from including leftist parties in the government.

"I have already made it clear that I will not form a government with the Leftist parties. There is a huge ideological void today between the Likud [Party] and Buji [Labor head Yitzhak Herzog], Tzipi [Livni] and the Labor Party list of anti-Zionist members," Netanyahu wrote.

Herzog and Livni adopted the name "Zionist Camp," which many find odd since they favor ceding large chunks of the state and are not opposed to re-dividing Jerusalem for a future Palestinian state.

"I also announced that Bayit Yehudi [Jewish Home] is our natural partner and will sit in the government I form -- a broad and strong Likud government," Netanyahu continued, warning "If the Likud isn't large enough, it is possible that a Leftist government will be established."

"This time the choice is a large Likud -- or a Leftists government," he concluded.

The latest poll figures show at least 46 percent of Israelis believe Netanyahu should continue to lead the country, compared with 31 percent who back Herzog.