Herzog: Netanyahu lacks guts for PA peace

Isaac Herzog, the new leader of Israel’s parliamentary opposition, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may not have what it takes to buck political pressure and sign a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

“I’m not sure he has the guts,” Herzog said in an interview yesterday at his Knesset office. “I say to Netanyahu -- if you fail, I will replace you and we will do it.”

The Labor party leader who is the son of former Israeli President Chaim Herzog also criticized Netanyahu for his weak response to Israel’s 22 percent poverty rate, the highest in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

He said he would raise taxes on the rich to narrow the widening income gap and divert government funds from West Bank settlements to develop less populated areas in Israel’s north and south.