Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist party challenger Yitzhak Mordechai faced off in the first televised debate between Israeli candidates for prime minister in the May 17 elections. The Israeli premier saved his sharpest barbs Tuesday evening for Labor candidate Ehud Barak, who refused to participate in the debate. Mordechai, meanwhile, repeatedly challenged Netanyahu, portraying him as an untrustworthy leader whose impulsive policies had “endangered the state of Israel.”
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