Livni May Face Elections

Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

Shas and leading Labor and Kadima Knesset Members have sharply criticized Prime Minister-designate Tzipi Livni's pre-Sukkot deal with Labor chairman Ehud Barak, lessening the likelihood she will be able to form a government before her deadline runs out November 3. Barak, who serves as Defense Minister but is not an MK, put his initials on an agreement with Foreign Minister Livni shortly before the Sukkot holiday. The deal gave him the power to veto proposals on changes in the judicial system as well as other items on the Cabinet agenda, a power that severely upset Shas.



Shas sources said the agreement, which has not been ratified by the Labor and Kadima parties, essentially allows Barak to force his views on the government. Shas is holding out for increases in outlays for large families and for a promise that Jerusalem will not be divided in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.



MK Tzachi HaNegbi, a key Kadima MK, predicted Wednesday morning that elections will be held if Shas does not join a government coalition.



The worldwide economic crisis has shrunk the forecast for Israel economic growth and government income, tossing a monkey wrench into demands from Shas and other parties for increased government spending.



Livni already has offered more than $100 million for grants to large families, a proposal Shas turned down. Demands by Shas and Labor will cost more than half a billion dollars, and Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On (Kadima), a key Livni supporter, has balked at bloating the proposed 2009 budget.

Livni probably will have to ask President Shimon Peres next week for a two-week extension on the deadline to establish a coalition government and replace Ehud Olmert as Prime Minister. The final deadline is November 3, when President Peres will be forced to ask another party to form a government, an unlikely possibility, or order new elections.



Likud chairman and former Prime Minister Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu has categorically rejected Livni's appeals that he join a national unity government. He has talked with Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in an attempt to convince the Sephardic religious to push for elections.



"At this time we need a government that will bolster Israel's economy and protect Jerusalem… This government cannot do that, and therefore there must be an election," he told the rabbi.



The chances of Livni leaving Shas out of a coalition and going with a government that would include Meretz appear slim. Kadima MK Zev Elkin said that several Kadima MKs would oppose it. "If Livni forms a government with only the Left, it will have no right to exist," he said.