Netanyahu eyes broad Israeli coalition

[Mrs. Sharon B. Hodge]

Netanyahu eyes broad Israeli coalition
by Charley Wegman

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli hawk Benjamin Netanyahu will try to entice centrist rival Tzipi Livni into his government on Sunday in a bid to form a broad coalition in the notoriously unstable world of Israeli politics.

A right-wing government led by Netanyahu, who wants to improve the economy of the occupied West Bank before holding talks on any other issues, is likely to completely halt the faltering Middle East peace process, observers warn.

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Israeli hawk Benjamin Netanyahu, seen here, will try to entice centrist rival Tzipi Livni into his government … (photo)

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Bibi, as Netanyahu is widely known in Israel, has been tasked with forming a coalition after the February 10 election and is thought to favour a broad union over a purely right-wing one that would be unlikely to last a full term.

In a scheduled afternoon meeting with Livni, he will try to lure the head of the centrist Kadima into his camp with the offer of senior posts in the future government, officials and local media said.

"We intend to form a government that is as broad as possible," a senior ally in his right-wing Likud party, Silvan Shalom, told army radio. "There is no problem in finding a common denominator and we can reach understandings."

According to local media reports, Netanyahu is planning to offer Livni senior posts such as the foreign and defence portfolios, as well as the same number of cabinet seats as his own party.

"Netanyahu will offer her a real and equal partnership between the Likud and Kadima, without getting into the details of the negotiations," the Ynet news website quoted a senior aide to Netanyahu as saying.

Livni, the outgoing foreign minister, has said that she would have nothing to do with a right-wing coalition, but local media say that she is under pressure from some within her party to join Netanyahu's government.

The 59-year-old Netanyahu was formally charged by President Shimon Peres on Friday with forming the new government. He has up to six weeks, or April 3, to put together a coalition.

The former premier can in theory count on the support of 65 MPs from various right-wing parties in the 120-member Knesset, but analysts say he wants to form a broader grouping that would be more stable.

Netanyahu headed a right-wing government 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 US pressure.

Israel's system of proportional representation usually forces premiers to cut deals with small parties in order to recruit them, resulting in governments that are notoriously unstable.

The February election was called a year ahead of time after Livni was charged with forming a cabinet in the wake of the resignation of the scandal-plagued outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

But the ultra-Orthodox Shas party refused to join a Livni cabinet because of her refusal to commit to not negotiating the status of Jerusalem with the Palestinians, scuttling her first attempt to become prime minister.

A right-wing Netanyahu-led government is likely to put Israel at odds with its main ally the United States, where President Barack Obama has vowed to vigorously pursue peace talks and has put together an experienced team to focus on the issue.

Netanyahu faces a delicate balancing act as he tries to entice Livni into his government while not alienating religious and far-right parties on whom he will have to rely should Kadima go into opposition.

"He comes to this match already married," wrote the Maariv daily.

"If he should say yes to Livni, he will lose his natural base. He cannot say yes to her.

He can say 'perhaps.' Or 'We will see.' He can nod silently. He can wink."