Israel Matzav

Lapid threatened to break up coalition if Netanyahu fired Livni

Maariv is reporting that Prime Minister Netanyahu really did want to fire Israel's 'justice minister' and chief negotiator bottle washer over her meeting with 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen last week. According to Maariv, the reason Netanyahu did not do so was that Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid threatened to bring down the government if he did.

According to the report, Netanyahu swore to fire Livni for her insubordination, but Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid warned the prime minister that sacking Livni would be a major political mistake that would bring about the dissolution of the government, and prompted Netanyahu to reconsider.

Netanyahu was not involved in the planning of the meeting, but found out through independent channels only after it was arranged, Ma'ariv reported.

The prime minister had been on a flight back to Israel from his official visit to Japan, and found out about the get-together after he landed.

Witnesses were quoted by Ma'ariv as saying that they "had never seen Bibi so furious." 

When Netanyahu demanded an explanation from Livni, she allegedly said that she meant to notify him ahead of time, but because of the time difference between London and Japan, she didn't get the chance.

Although Netanyahu allegedly forbade her to hold the meeting, which was the first time Israeli and Palestinian officials met since the end of peace talks on April 29, she went ahead with her plans, much to the dismay of the prime minister and other government ministers.

Netanyahu has all the courage and principles of a chameleon....

Labels: Abu Mazen, Binyamin Netanyahu, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Middle East peace process, Tzipi Livni, Yair Lapid

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:19 PM