VOA标准英语2009年-Israel in Political Limbo As Livni, Netanyahu E

Israel has been plunged¹ into political uncertainty² following Tuesday's national elections in which hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist Tzipi Livni are each claiming victory for their parties. With 99 percent of the vote counted, Livni's Kadima party is leading Mr. Netanyahu's Likud party by one seat in the Israeli parliament.
　
Election campaign posters for Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, and FM and Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni are seen in Jerusalem, 09 Feb 2009

Final official results may not come until Thursday or Friday, after thousands of ballots³ cast by soldiers and diplomats⁴ abroad are counted. Even with all votes counted, no party could have an outright⁵ majority.

It will then be up to President Shimon Peres to decide who should form a coalition⁶ government, a process that could take weeks of political wrangling⁷.

What is clear in these elections is that Israeli voters, whose top concern in these elections was security, have largely swung to the right.
　
Avigdor Lieberman speaks during a meeting of his party in Jerusalem, 11 Feb 2009

The smaller, right wing Yisrael Beiteinu party led by Avigdor Lieberman - a former nightclub bouncer who ran on an anti-Arab platform - won a significant number of new seats in the parliament. His party's new clout⁸ could make him influential⁹ in the decision of who emerges as the new prime minister.

Lieberman says he has been in contact with both Benjamin Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni, whose parties received the most votes.

Speaking to his supporters early Wednesday, Lieberman called for a tough new approach to terrorism.

Lieberman said his party's priorities are clear. First and foremost, he said Israel must find a way to deal decisively with terror, and he said it must not be through negotiation¹⁰, direct or indirect.

The measures he proposes include re-drawing Israel's borders to exclude Arab Israeli communities and put them under the control of the Palestinian Authority. He also wants to force Israeli Arabs who reside within Israel's borders to pledge loyalty¹¹ to the Jewish State. About 1.4 million Arabs live in Israel.

Analysts¹² say Lieberman's message could resonate with the Netanyahu camp, which does not generally favor negotiations¹³ with the Palestinians and wants to topple the Islamist Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip.

Hebrew University Politics Professor Abraham Diskin says Mr. Netanyahu will likely be able to tap support among the smaller right-wing and centrist parties and secure enough parliament seats to form a government. But Diskin tells VOA Mr. Netanyahu will have to be cautious in pursuing a partnership¹⁴ with Lieberman if he wants to build a lasting¹⁵ coalition.

"These two personalities¹⁶ did cooperate before," he said. "Lieberman was the right hand of Netanyahu within the Likud but I think that a right-wing government is not to the like of Netanyahu because he will have six different partners and almost every partner has some extreme views and may endanger the stability of the government."

Those partners would include ultra-orthodox religious parties that are at odds¹⁷ with Lieberman's secular¹⁸ platform, which is viewed by some as anti-religious.

Observers say that with the losses suffered by the left-of-center factions¹⁹ in these elections, Tzipi Livni - who portrayed²⁰ herself as a peacemaker - could have a tougher time bringing together a coalition.

1 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

2 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

3 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

6 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。

7 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

8 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。

9 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

10 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

11 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

12 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。

13 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

14 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

15 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

16 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

17 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

18 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

19 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

20 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》