WORLD> Middle East
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WORLD> Middle East
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Israel's Peres: Netanyahu will form new government
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-20 22:36 It seemed possible that Livni's vow to join the opposition amounted to posturing ahead of coalition bargaining following Lieberman's endorsement of Netanyahu. Lieberman is an immigrant from the former Soviet Union who based his campaign on requiring Israeli Arabs to swear allegiance to the Jewish state or lose their citizenship. Lieberman's party came in third place in the Feb. 10 election, after Kadima and Netanyahu's Likud. That essentially allowed him to determine whether Netanyahu or Livni would be able to muster the backing of a majority in parliament. Lieberman's stance toward Arabs has exposed him to charges of racism and many see him as a far-right extremist. However, he is opposed to the Orthodox Jewish establishment's control over key aspects of public life in Israel, one of several positions that has enabled him to find common ground with moderates. While announcing his support for Netanyahu on Thursday, Lieberman said he preferred a national unity government that included Livni over a narrow hard-line coalition. Putting together a broad, centrist government would be a tall order for Netanyahu. Livni has said she will not join Netanyahu in a government unless she can be an equal partner, presumably through the sort of "rotation" agreement Israel has tried in the past in which an election's top two winners each get to be prime minister for half of the government's four-year term. Netanyahu, however, has ruled out any such arrangement. As the political wrangling in Israel gains momentum, sporadic violence continues in Gaza in the absence of a long-term cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Militants fired mortar shells at an Israeli patrol along the Gaza-Israel border Friday, Israeli defense officials said, and the troops returned fire. There were no injuries reported. Egypt has been trying to mediate a truce since Israel ended its Gaza offensive Jan. 18. Hamas wants Israel to open Gaza's blockaded border crossings, while Israel wants a halt to arms smuggling and the return of a soldier captured in 2006. Netanyahu has said Israel must topple the Hamas government in Gaza and says Israel halted the Gaza offensive too soon.
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