Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid ganged up on
former foreign minister Tzipi Livni on Monday, complaining that her efforts to
unite the Center-Left bloc were really intended to build up her party at their
expense.
Yacimovich and Lapid released a joint statement attacking Livni,
after she blamed them for the fact that no cooperation resulted from a
late-night meeting between the three of them. They said Livni presented a false
account of what had happened in the meeting.
“We came to the meeting out
of mutual respect, despite our many ideological differences,” Yacimovich and
Lapid said. “We were shocked to discover that we were merely the backdrop for a
well-thought-out spin campaign lacking any truth and substance.
It is now
clear that the meeting was a desperate political trick by Livni, whose party is
deteriorating in the polls.”
A Dialog poll broadcast on Channel 10
revealed that The Tzipi Livni Party had fallen to only seven seats, well below
the 17 predicted for Labor and 11 for Yesh Atid. Likud Beytenu rose in the poll
for the first time in a month, climbing back to 35 mandates.
Yacimovich
and Lapid said Livni prevented a Center-Left bloc from being formed before the
parties’ candidate lists were submitted, and now she continues making mistakes,
causing rifts and harming efforts to create a proper alternative to an extremist
government.
Livni released a fierce response, accusing them of rejecting
any possible proposal and preferring to malign her rather than cooperate for the
good of the public.
“Their violent and unnecessary statement
unfortunately shows they coordinated their stances before and after the meeting
to prevent the worrisome truth from coming out: They are playing a personal game
for their own narrow interests instead of supporting the only plan that can give
hope to the public,” Livni said.
The plan Livni proposed at the meeting,
which took place at Lapid’s mother’s house in Tel Aviv, entailed forming a joint
campaign against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ahead of the election and
after the race, insisting on all three parties either joining the coalition or
remaining in the opposition.
“We should force Netanyahu to either form a
national unity government with all our parties on the basis of what we believe
in or a narrow, right-wing extremist government that will not last,” Livni said.
“Unfortunately, we did not reach an agreement, but I don’t intend to give
up.”
Yacimovich blasted Livni for not ruling out joining a Netanyahu-led
government as Labor has. She said that if Labor gets 25 mandates, President
Shimon Peres could ask her to form the government instead of
Netanyahu.
Lapid said that although he would bring Yesh Atid into the
coalition if another centrist party joined, he was willing to go to the
opposition.
He noted that under the leadership of his father, former
justice minister Yosef “Tommy” Lapid, the Shinui party rose from six to 15 seats
after sitting in the opposition.
The party seen as most likely to join a
Netanyahu-led government together with Yesh Atid is Kadima, which the Dialog
poll predicted would pass the electoral threshold. Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz
said he would not rule out joining the government.
“National unity
governments are important,” Mofaz said. “We will do what is best for
Israel.”
A Kadima spokesman, meanwhile, accused Livni of “scandalously
strengthening Netanyahu at the Center- Left’s expense.” He said only Kadima
could have have a moderating effect on the next coalition if it is formed by
Netanyahu.
Despite the failure of the Center- Left to unite on Monday,
Netanyahu warned that there would continue to be efforts to prevent his
election. Speaking to the Russian-language press, he accused the haredi parties
of conspiring with the Center- Left to prevent him from forming a government
after the election.
Arye Deri, co-chairman of Shas, mocked Netanyahu’s
accusation, calling it “an unsuccessful attempt at humor.” He said that at least
Netanyahu stopped short of accusing him of participating in the late-night
meeting of Yacimovich, Lapid and Livni.
But Interior Minister Eli Yishai,
another of Shas’s three leaders, appeared to confirm Netanyahu’s accusation in
an interview with Udi Segal on Channel 2’s program Election Campaign.
“I
want Livni and Lapid to join a Netanyahu-led government together with Shas,”
Yishai said. “Having them in the government will help Israel avoid international
pressure.”