Israel’s Netanyahu fails to lure rivals for cabinet
Güncelleme Tarihi:
AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 24, 2009 00:00
JERUSALEM - Israel’s Premier-designate Benjamin Netanyahu fails to win key centrist rivals to join in a national unity government under his leadership. The political jockeying comes as UStop diplomats are set to visit region for pressuring peace
Benjamin Netanyahu failed yesterday to persuade top rivals to join his broad coalition government, increasing the chances of a right-wing Israeli cabinet that is likely to put the brakes on the sputtering Mideast peace process. Both outgoing Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, head of the Kadima, and Labour Party leader and current Defense Minister Ehud Barak have waved aside entreaties to enter a Netanyahu government.
The intense political horse trading comes as senior envoys from the administration of new U.S. President Barack Obama prepare to visit the region to try to advance peace talks which have been on ice since the Gaza war.
Barak emerged from a meeting with Netanyahu yesterday still intent on taking Labour to the opposition benches after the veteran party made its worst-ever showing in the Feb. 10 election with just 13 seats. "The people have decided to send Labour into the opposition and we respect their choice," Barak said. "We will be a responsible, serious and constructive opposition."
After talks with Netanyahu late on Sunday, Livni said Kadima would not enter a government headed by the Likud leader but nevertheless left the door ajar, agreeing to meet him again. "We didn't reach any agreement," Livni said. "There is an essential divergence and we have to clarify if there is a possible common path. We didn't make progress on any essential subjects."
Two-state solution
She said the main difference centered on the principle of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which Livni supports. "On the essential subject for arriving at a (coalition) deal - that there should be two states for two peoples and a final accord with the Palestinians - there is no agreement," said Livni, who has been leading Israel's talks with the Palestinians.
Bibi, as Netanyahu is known, put a more positive spin on the encounter, saying "we found many common points that require further meetings. We are trying to find a common path."
Although he can theoretically count on support from fellow right-wingers for a 65-bloc in the 120-member parliament, Netanyahu is believed to favor a broad coalition that will have a better chance of surviving in the notoriously unstable world of Israeli politics.
"He is terrified by the possibility that he will have to present a narrow government to Barack Obama," the Maariv newspaper wrote. "It keeps him awake at night." The former premier favors a broad alliance over a purely right-wing coalition that would be unlikely to last a full term and would put Israel at odds with Obama's administration. The U.S. president's Middle East peace envoy, former Sen. George Mitchell, was expected in Israel and the West Bank within days while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to make her first official visit next week, according to senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat.
Bibi headed a right-wing cabinet when he became Israel's youngest prime minister in 1996, but it fell apart three years later when small far-right parties quit in protest over deals he struck with the Palestinians under U.S. pressure. Israel's system of proportional representation usually forces premiers to secure coalition partners among the myriad of smaller parties.
The intense political horse trading comes as senior envoys from the administration of new U.S. President Barack Obama prepare to visit the region to try to advance peace talks which have been on ice since the Gaza war.
Barak emerged from a meeting with Netanyahu yesterday still intent on taking Labour to the opposition benches after the veteran party made its worst-ever showing in the Feb. 10 election with just 13 seats. "The people have decided to send Labour into the opposition and we respect their choice," Barak said. "We will be a responsible, serious and constructive opposition."
After talks with Netanyahu late on Sunday, Livni said Kadima would not enter a government headed by the Likud leader but nevertheless left the door ajar, agreeing to meet him again. "We didn't reach any agreement," Livni said. "There is an essential divergence and we have to clarify if there is a possible common path. We didn't make progress on any essential subjects."
Two-state solution
She said the main difference centered on the principle of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which Livni supports. "On the essential subject for arriving at a (coalition) deal - that there should be two states for two peoples and a final accord with the Palestinians - there is no agreement," said Livni, who has been leading Israel's talks with the Palestinians.
Bibi, as Netanyahu is known, put a more positive spin on the encounter, saying "we found many common points that require further meetings. We are trying to find a common path."
Although he can theoretically count on support from fellow right-wingers for a 65-bloc in the 120-member parliament, Netanyahu is believed to favor a broad coalition that will have a better chance of surviving in the notoriously unstable world of Israeli politics.
"He is terrified by the possibility that he will have to present a narrow government to Barack Obama," the Maariv newspaper wrote. "It keeps him awake at night." The former premier favors a broad alliance over a purely right-wing coalition that would be unlikely to last a full term and would put Israel at odds with Obama's administration. The U.S. president's Middle East peace envoy, former Sen. George Mitchell, was expected in Israel and the West Bank within days while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to make her first official visit next week, according to senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat.
Bibi headed a right-wing cabinet when he became Israel's youngest prime minister in 1996, but it fell apart three years later when small far-right parties quit in protest over deals he struck with the Palestinians under U.S. pressure. Israel's system of proportional representation usually forces premiers to secure coalition partners among the myriad of smaller parties.