VOA标准英语2009年-Israel's Netanyahu Closer to Forming Government

Israel's Prime Minister-designate, Benjamin Netanyahu, is closer to forming a government that will be dominated by right-wing parties that oppose giving many concessions¹ to the Palestinians. But Mr. Netanyahu is seeking to form a broad coalition² by courting the left-of-center Labor³ party.
　
Israeli Prime Minister-Designate Benjamin Netanyahu, (file)

Mr. Netanyahu's Likud Party opened talks with the Labor Party, in an effort to cast the new coalition he forms as broad and moderate.

Analysts⁵ say Mr. Netanyahu wants to temper his coalition's image in the face of the international community. The United States and other nations have called for Israel to pursue a two-state solution, a goal that would require the Jewish State to make concessions to the Palestinians.

Akiva Eldar is an author and the chief political analyst⁴ at Tel Aviv's Ha'aretz newspaper.

"The main reason is to put some make-up on his face, to be able to present a kind of pragmatic, if you like, moderate coalition. The Labor Party is perceived as the party that started the peace process, the Oslo process. Once they are on board it is much easier to convince the international community that this government is not a radical-right government," Eldar said.

The Labor Party - led by current Defense⁷ Minister Ehud Barak - is divided, with many within the party opposing participation⁸ in a unity⁶ government.

The ruling centrist Kadima party led by Tzipi Livni has rejected calls to join the coalition.

Even if Mr. Netanyahu wins Labor Party support, the coalition would be dominated by right-wing parties.

Earlier, Mr. Netanyahu reached a deal with the ultra-Orthodox Shas party to join his coalition, getting Likud more seats that it needs in order to form a government by an April 3 deadline.

It was the second coalition deal Mr. Netanyahu has signed, bringing him closer to meeting the deadline.

Mr. Netanyahu last week signed on the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party led by Avigdor Lieberman, a politician who wants Arab Israelis to pledge allegiance to the Jewish State and says Israel's borders should be re-drawn to exclude Arab communities and put them under Palestinian control.

Under Mr. Netanyahu's deal with Yisrael Beiteinu, Lieberman - who last year publicly told Egypt's president to "go to hell" - would become Israel's foreign minister.

1 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。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 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。

5 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。

6 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。