Israel’s Livni Opens Coalition Talks

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni won the job of Kadima Party leader by a narrow margin earlier this week. She now is starting talks to find a coalition partner or partners to form a government. If she can’t in the next six weeks, it’s likely that Israelis will go to the polls.

There were four politicians on the ballot, and only Kadima Party members could vote. According to the final results of Wednesday's Kadima leadership contest, Ms. Livni won with 43.1%, or 16,936 votes. Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz (a former defense minister and chief of staff of the Israeli military) came in a close second with 42%, or 16,505 votes. The two other candidates, Meir Sheetrit and Avi Dichter, lagged far behind with 8.4% and 6.5% respectively.

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud bloc is leading in the polls, is spoiling for an election. Likud parliamentary whip Gideon Saar said, “Forming a new government based on the votes of 431 Kadima members would be a legal farce. The parties should display national responsibility, sit together and determine an agreed-upon date for new elections.”

Getting a coalition together may be hard because of the presence of the ultra-orthodox Shas party in the old government. Earlier on, Mr. Sheetrit advised that Kadima “should form a coalition without giving in to Haredi [ultra-Orthodox Jewish] demands and extortion.” Analysts are quite sure he meant Shas. And The chairman of Shas, Eli Yishai, was pretty sure of the same thing. He quickly put his party’s demands on the table, ruling out any negotiations on Jerusalem's future and increasing child allowances. He added, “If Livni wants a government, she needs to comply with our demands.”

Ms. Livni’s election was greeted with guarded optimism on the West Bank. The BBC reported, “The senior Palestinian Authority negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said he hoped the result would lead to a return to stability.” In Gaza, though, Hamas was less hopeful. The Beeb said “The Islamist movement, Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said it expected no change in Israel's policy towards the Palestinians.” Ms. Livni does prefer negotiating to fighting, but she was also a member of Mossad, one tends to agree with Hamas that there is likely little change ahead.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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