Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is refusing to join in a coalition government with Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu. This increases the possibility the the right wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu will form the next government in coalition with other smaller right wing parties. Don't expect any negotiations with Hamas anytime soon.
Livni says "no" to joining Netanyahu-led coalition
By Jeffrey Heller
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni wrote in a private note captured by cameras on Sunday that her centrist Kadima party would not join any coalition government headed by right-wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
The note, which Livni handed to outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Kadima at the weekly cabinet meeting, set the battle lines in what could be weeks of political bargaining after Israel's inconclusive election last Tuesday.
Shortly after polls closed, both Livni and Netanyahu laid claim to the premiership, deepening uncertainty over the course Israel will follow after last month's Gaza war and in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
Kadima won 28 seats in the 120-member parliament to Likud's 27, but a strong rightist bloc that emerged in the vote appeared to give Netanyahu the edge in putting together a governing majority. (excerpted) read more at reuters.com
This won't make peace in the Middle East easier. There won't be a land for peace deal under Likud rule.
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