Guess who won't be opposition leader
Livni will be Israel's next justice minister, while her party's number three, Amir Peretz, will be the environmental protection minister. In addition, a member of Livni's party will chair an unspecified Knesset committee.
Perhaps most importantly, Netanyahu apparently has allowed Livni to take charge of peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. She will also appoint a special staff for the talks, but as a caveat, Netanyahu's envoy Yitzhak Molcho will be a member of the negotiating team.
Livni's ability to strike a peace deal with the Palestinians will also be hindered by Netanyahu's insistence that any agreement must be voted on and approved both by the Knesset and the cabinet.
The agreement also included pledges to attempt to increase equality in the burden of IDF service, institute electoral reform, lower the cost of living and fight racism.
The deal is a generous offer by Netanyahu for a party the size of Hatnua (6 Knesset seats), and could represent a backlash against posturing by other parties, notably Bayit Yehudi and Yesh Atid. An official said Bayit Yehudi was offered to be the first party to join the government but it rejected the offer and said it would not join a coalition without Yesh Atid.What could go wrong?
Labels: Amir Peretz, Binyamin Netanyahu, Palestinian state, two-state solution, Tzipi Livni
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:59 PM
3 Comments:
They're on TV now. Do kriyah.
Tzipi's ego would not allow her to play second fiddle in the opposition to Labor's Shelly Yachimovich, a woman she despises.
Netanyahu raided the Left and netted 8 seats if you count Tzipi and Mofaz's rump Kadima, which is also expected to join the coalition.
Neither of them is in a position to bring down Netanyahu, which is what he really cares about and the "peace process" is going nowhere even if Tzipi heads it.
Netanyahu appears set to have a minority government of 57, along with the haredi parties. Don't look for electoral reform or equalizing the burden to take place in his new government.
Both Lapid and Bennett can cool their heels in the opposition and that's fine with Netanyahu. He plays the game of coalition politics better than any one in Israel.
Something tells me his new ex-Kadima partners have a vested interest in his survival and they're not looking forward to new elections any time soon. And if that arrangement upsets Labor and Meretz's its even sweeter for the PM.
Heh
No excuses.
Zig-zag-yhoo before the elections said he would not go with Livni.
Likud ONCE AGAIN betrays its electorate.
Just like Sharon who was elected on the basis of "the law for Netzarim is like the law for Kfar Mallal" and then implemented Mitzna's policies of deportation of all the Jews from Gaza.
Feiglin of course won't learn a thing this time neither...
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