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World Jewish News
Netanyahu meeting Livni in last-ditch attempt for unity
27.02.2009
Coalition talks between Prime Minister-designate Binyamin Netanyahu and Kadima leader Tzipi Livni kicked off in Tel Aviv late Friday morning, with the Kadima head expected to put an end to any remaining hopes in the Likud that a national-unity government with her party could be formed.
Netanyahu made efforts over the last few days to reach out to Livni and persuade her that his government would pursue peace with the Palestinians and that there was no ideological basis for not joining the coalition.
"I am coming with clean hands and a willing heart," Netanyahu intends to tell Livni, according to his spokesman. "I intend to advance the peace process with the Palestinians. Let's form a joint team to decide the policies and guidelines that will be the basis for the government and the agreements with the other parties."
Writing in the new issue of the New York Jewish Week, meanwhile, Israel Beiteinu's Avigdor Lieberman called for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Rejecting claims that he is a man of the "far right" or an "ultra-nationalist," he wrote: "I want the State of Israel to remain a Zionist, Jewish and democratic state. There is nothing 'far' or 'ultra' about those ideals. I also advocate the creation of a viable Palestinian state."
Sources close to Netanyahu said Friday was Livni's final test to prove that she was not a "conscientious objector to unity." They said Netanyahu tried unsuccessfully to persuade Livni to expand their meeting to allow additional politicians from the two parties to attend but that she insisted it be one-on-one.
An MK who met with Livni this week said she made it clear that there was no chance Kadima would join Netanyahu's government.
President Shimon Peres has met with Kadima MKs over the last few days in an effort to push the formation of national unity government. Many Kadima MKs have said in closed conversations that they believed the party should join Netanyahu's government, but the only MKs who have said so publicly are Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and his ally, Ronit Tirosh.
Sources close to Mofaz left open the possibility that if Livni formally closed the door on a unity government Friday, some of the MKs who agreed with him would vocalize their discontent. But they expressed doubt that the MKs would risk angering Livni, who could decide who receives portfolios in a future government.
Kadima MK Marina Solodkin said she had a difficult time explaining to Russian immigrant activists in the party why the party would remain in the opposition.
"I tell them that it's only temporary and that when the challenges Israel is facing intensify, the government will fall," Solodkin said. "I also tell them that as Marxism teaches, things often happen against the will of humanity."
A Shvakim Panorama poll broadcast on Israel Radio on Thursday morning found that 85 percent of Kadima voters want their party to join Netanyahu's coalition, while only 11.4% said it should be in the opposition.
Kadima officials responded that the same pollster predicted that the Likud would beat Kadima by a wide margin. They revealed that a survey taken by Kadima pollster Kalman Geyer found that 70 percent of people who voted Kadima wanted the party in the opposition.
"Unless Tzipi hears something shocking from Netanyahu and he surprises her with very different answers than he gave when they met on Sunday, we are headed to the opposition," said Kadima faction chairman Yoel Hasson, who is close to Livni. "From tomorrow we start trying to overthrow the government."
Meanwhile, in a move that could hamper Likud's coalition negotiations with haredi parties, Degel Hatorah mentor Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv has expressed his opposition to any compromise on the civil union issue and has even rejected a solution put forward by Shas, according to which Israel would allow civil marriages between Israeli non-Jews, a source close to the rabbi revealed Friday.
Finding a solution for couples seeking recognition for civil unions without a religious ceremony is one of potential coalition partner Israel Beiteinu's key demands that was accepted by Likud last week.
Elyashiv reportedly stated that particularly since a narrow, right-wing coalition appeared to be on the cards, United Torah Judaism - of which Degel Hatorah is a component - could not allow changes to the status quo on the civil union issue.
Shas is also unlikely to go against the revered halachic authority.
Источник: JPost.com
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