OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Battling Benjamin Netanyahu's accusations that he is soft on national security, the Israeli prime minister's main election rival said on Tuesday he would boost efforts to focus voters on his own military and strategic credentials. Isaac Herzog, who heads the center-left Zionist Union coalition with former cabinet minister Tzipi Livni, is a former major in an elite military intelligence unit. But Herzog's mild demeanor is widely seen as an impediment toward persuading right-wingers who may have soured on Netanyahu, an ex-commando, over issues such as the high cost of food and housing that they can safely shift their support to him. "We will expose my story," Herzog, citing his service as a major in Intelligence Unit 8200, told foreign reporters at a briefing in Jerusalem when asked how he sought to translate a slight advantage in opinion polls into victory in the March 17 ballot. Herzog, 54, said he needed "to reach soft Likud members," naming Netanyahu's right-wing party, in order to win the election. He said he had served seven years in Israel's security cabinet in previous governments. Thus far, Herzog's party has focused his campaign on tapping into public anger over Israel's high cost of living, while Netanyahu has spoken daily of the dangers presented by Iran's nuclear program and militants. At the briefing, Herzog also pledged to renew deadlocked talks with the Palestinians and ease strains with Europe, where opposition to Israeli settlement building in occupied territory has been strong. "Hand-in-hand in being tough against terror we should be innovative, and initiating, initiating a process, trying to find new ways and news of trying to come to terms with our neighbours," Herzog said. Netanyahu, whose campaign commercials have accused Herzog and Livni of "folding under pressure" when it comes to Israel's vital security interests, travels to Washington next week to address the US Congress on the Iranian nuclear issue. — Reuters
