Bennett mocks: Livni should make peace deal with aliens

Netanyahu reportedly checking with Bennett where his red lines are for remaining in the coalition following framework deal.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Bayit Yehudi faction meeting 370 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/ The Jerusalem Post)
Bayit Yehudi faction meeting 370
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/ The Jerusalem Post)
The leaders of two parties in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition, Hatnua and Bayit Yehudi, clashed Monday over Israel’s prospective partners in a peace agreement.
Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett accused Hatnua leader Tzipi Livni of seeking a diplomatic agreement even without a partner on the Palestinian side.
He quoted her saying in a speech, at a conference sponsored by the economic newspaper Calcalist that, “if there is no Palestinian partner we must make an agreement with the world.”
Bennett mocked Livni, saying that her next step would be to decide that “if there is no Palestinian partner, we will go for an agreement with aliens.”
Livni’s associates said she had been misquoted by Bennett.
A source close to her said Livni was not proposing a deal with the world in lieu of a deal with the Palestinians but rather saying that the deal she is working on with the Palestinians would also serve as an agreement with the international community.
“We are negotiating with a Palestinian partner but the deal will also be with the world,” Livni said according to her associates, “the negotiations are not only with the Palestinians but with the world, through the United States that is not only a mediator but also an ally with whom we share mutual interests.”
Chiding Bennett and his allies on the Right, Livni said that they would not see a chance for real peace even if it was right under their noses.
Channel 2 reported that Netanyahu had already started checking with Bennett where his red lines would be for remaining in the coalition after an American diplomatic framework is announced.
If Bennett decides to keep Bayit Yehudi in the coalition, it would help Netanyahu maintain order and discipline among the ministers and MKs in his own faction.
Bennett’s spokeswoman dismissed the report, saying that Netanyahu himself had no idea what would be in US Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposal.
“It is way too early to check how we feel about an egg that has not yet been hatched,” the spokeswoman said.