Netanyahu vows to keep "status quo" amid rise of religious parties

Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Tuesday to balance out religious and secular interests in Israel as he tries to form a new government with nationalist and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties. "We will preserve the status quo. This will not become a nation of religious law.

Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Tuesday to balance out religious and secular interests in Israel as he tries to form a new government with nationalist and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.

"We will preserve the status quo. Everyone will live in accordance with their own faith. This will not become a nation of religious law. It will be a country in which we tend to all citizens of Israel, without exception," he told parliament.