美国有线新闻 CNN 以色列大选在即 总理内塔尼亚胡面临挑战

 

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: With less than a week to go before a major election in Israel, we're spelling out its significance today on CNN 10. I'm Carl Azuz. It's great to see you this Wednesday.

Israel is America's closest ally in the Middle East. Its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was first elected to the job in 1996. He's served on, and off, and on again since then. And if this years vote goes his way again, he'll become Israel's longest serving prime minister ever. But he's facing a number of difficult challenges this time around. One of them is that the nation's attorney general says he plans to charge Prime Minister Netanyahu with corruption¹. The Israeli leader denies doing anything wrong and calls the investigation² a politically motivated witch hunt.

In fact, he's made it a major campaign issue. His main opponent in the election, former military chief of Staff Benny Gantz, calls it ridiculous that an Israeli prime minister could serve while being charged with a crime. But if either one of these men is to serve after the election, he'll need to have the support of Israel's Knesset — its parliament. There are 120 seats in the Knesset and the prime minister needs a majority — at least 61 of those seats — on his side. That's not always easy to put together. Unlike the U.S. Congress which is dominated by Democrats³ and Republicans, there are more than 40 political parties running for Israel's Knesset.

Most of those won't actually make it in, but analysts⁴ say 10 to 14 different parties will. And the biggest one's likely to have around 30 seats. So what the prime minister has to do to have 61 or more of those seats on his side is get several of these different parties to work together. That coalition⁵ building process can take weeks, but once its all worked out after the April 9th election, the governing resumes.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 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。