But Mr Bennett's discourse has won over thousands of right-wing voters who believe in a "greater Israel".
Settler leaders and hardline members of Mr Netanyahu's coalition say this would be the beginning of the end of their dream of Greater Israel.
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And Benny Begin, also once a minister under Mr Netanyahu, has proclaimed a new party of the right, loyal to the Likud's now-compromised belief in Greater Israel, with himself as its leader and candidate for prime minister.
Access to venture capital is, per capita, 20-fold greater in Israel than in the rest of Europe.
President Obama said he had reassured Mr Peres "that in this work Israel will have no greater friend than the United States".
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The longer the onslaught continues, the greater the international pressure will be for Israel to halt its operations.
He promised Sunday that he would sign no agreement that did not enhance Israel's security and bring it greater prosperity.
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Rice said the Mideast Quartet -- composed of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia -- is examining a plan by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad for the Palestinian Authority to take a greater role in monitoring border crossings between Gaza and Israel.
But the impact the Israeli commando mission then had on Israel's political position was more than 10 times greater than the political impact of this week's successful operation.
However, should there be an escalation of tensions in the Middle East beyond the recent fighting between Israel and Hamas, there would be potential for a greater uptick.
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In Israel the onus should be on persuading the haredim to play a greater role, not just in the army but in the economy.
ECONOMIST: Israel needs to solve a problem with its most religious Jews
Aside from its southern border with Israel, Lebanon is entirely surrounded by Syria, and was considered part of "greater Syria" until the end of World War I.
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