TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 01/23/13 -- Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) congratulates Benjamin Netanyahu on his re-election as the Prime Minister of Israel, noting his statement that preventing a nuclear Iran is his primary challenge falls in line with Canadian values.

"In his victory speech Prime Minister Netanyahu stated the obvious: that protecting Israel from a country determined to destroy it is his first priority in his third term in office," stated FSWC President and CEO Avi Benlolo. "As a Canadian human rights organization we are pleased to highlight Canada's efforts to confront the same challenge when we cut all diplomatic ties with Iran in September; we wish him wisdom and strength as he struggles to face this existential challenge to Israel and the danger Iran poses to western democracies in general."

According to exit polls Prime Minister Netanyahu's Likud Beitenu won 31 seats in Israel's 120-seat Knesset (Parliament). More than 65% of Israel's eligible 5.6 million voters cast a ballot for one of the 32 parties running for election in a system based on nation-wide proportional representation. Votes are cast for a party, rather than for a person; a party must receive at least 2% of the votes in order to be elected.