Post by Paddy by Grace on Oct 17, 2008 3:25:37 GMT -7
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d471b2f0-9957-11dd-9d48-000077b07658.html
Tzipi Livni on Tuesday moved one step closer to becoming the next prime minister of Israel, after she finally secured a pledge from her party�s biggest coalition ally to stay in the government and support her bid for the leadership.
Ms Livni, who currently serves as foreign minister, won the race to succeed Ehud Olmert as prime minister and head of the governing Kadima party in an internal primary last month. But she has faced an uphill battle in the weeks since to hold together the fractious government coalition assembled by Mr Olmert, who is stepping down to fight corruption allegations.
The breakthrough came on Tuesday, when the centre-left Labour party under Ehud Barak, the defence minister and himself a former prime minister, agreed to sign a new coalition agreement.
The deal was struck between senior negotiators from the two parties, but has yet to be formally ratified by the two leaders.
Together Kadima and Labour have 48 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. They would need a further 13 seats to give them an overall majority.
If Ms Livni can now also persuade the ultra-orthodox religious Shas party to stay on board, she will have enough votes in the Israeli parliament to become Israel�s second female prime minister after Golda Meir more than 30 years ago.
Shas has made its support conditional on a promise to raise child welfare payments. The party also wants to ensure that the current peace talks with the Palestinians exclude the sensitive issue of occupied east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as the capital of a future independent state.
The deal with Labour came after a marathon negotiating session lasting 17 hours, Israeli media reported. It will see Mr Barak elevated to the post of �senior� deputy prime minister, marking him out as the highest-ranking government member behind Ms Livni. He will also be handed an unspecified role in the current peace negotiations with Syria, which were launched by Mr Olmert earlier this year.
The agreement reflects the desire of both parties to avoid an early election, which polls suggest would usher in a right-wing government under Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the Likud party and another former prime minister.
Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly urged both Labour and Shas not to join Kadima in a new government, arguing that Israel should go to the polls instead.
In an effort to prevent Shas from following the Labour lead, Mr Netanyahu on Tuesday met the party�s spiritual leader, reportedly warning him of Ms Livni�s intention to redivide Jerusalem.
While most analysts believe that Shas will ultimately decide to join the government, the arduous coalition talks of the past weeks suggest that a Livni-led government may suffer from the same lack of stability and political cohesion that bedevilled Mr Olmert.
Ms Livni is likely to face a particular challenge in uniting her government behind the current peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, which have made little headway since their launch last year.
Tzipi Livni on Tuesday moved one step closer to becoming the next prime minister of Israel, after she finally secured a pledge from her party�s biggest coalition ally to stay in the government and support her bid for the leadership.
Ms Livni, who currently serves as foreign minister, won the race to succeed Ehud Olmert as prime minister and head of the governing Kadima party in an internal primary last month. But she has faced an uphill battle in the weeks since to hold together the fractious government coalition assembled by Mr Olmert, who is stepping down to fight corruption allegations.
The breakthrough came on Tuesday, when the centre-left Labour party under Ehud Barak, the defence minister and himself a former prime minister, agreed to sign a new coalition agreement.
The deal was struck between senior negotiators from the two parties, but has yet to be formally ratified by the two leaders.
Together Kadima and Labour have 48 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. They would need a further 13 seats to give them an overall majority.
If Ms Livni can now also persuade the ultra-orthodox religious Shas party to stay on board, she will have enough votes in the Israeli parliament to become Israel�s second female prime minister after Golda Meir more than 30 years ago.
Shas has made its support conditional on a promise to raise child welfare payments. The party also wants to ensure that the current peace talks with the Palestinians exclude the sensitive issue of occupied east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as the capital of a future independent state.
The deal with Labour came after a marathon negotiating session lasting 17 hours, Israeli media reported. It will see Mr Barak elevated to the post of �senior� deputy prime minister, marking him out as the highest-ranking government member behind Ms Livni. He will also be handed an unspecified role in the current peace negotiations with Syria, which were launched by Mr Olmert earlier this year.
The agreement reflects the desire of both parties to avoid an early election, which polls suggest would usher in a right-wing government under Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the Likud party and another former prime minister.
Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly urged both Labour and Shas not to join Kadima in a new government, arguing that Israel should go to the polls instead.
In an effort to prevent Shas from following the Labour lead, Mr Netanyahu on Tuesday met the party�s spiritual leader, reportedly warning him of Ms Livni�s intention to redivide Jerusalem.
While most analysts believe that Shas will ultimately decide to join the government, the arduous coalition talks of the past weeks suggest that a Livni-led government may suffer from the same lack of stability and political cohesion that bedevilled Mr Olmert.
Ms Livni is likely to face a particular challenge in uniting her government behind the current peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, which have made little headway since their launch last year.