Ben-Eliezer: Barak asked Livni to commit to 2-year stable coalition

By JPOST.COM STAFF, GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Defense Minister Ehud Barak asked new Kadima leader Tzipi Livni to commit to a stable coalition for the next two years as a condition for Labor staying in the government, Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Sunday. "She can guarantee these conditions…that will ensure a two-year working plan for the benefit of Israeli citizens," Ben-Eliezer told Army Radio. Barak, who, aides said, may prefer to form a national emergency government with the Likud, met on Saturday night at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv with opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu. Ben Eliezer denied that Barak told the opposition leader he would accept remaining defense minister in the next government, saying that no one goes to elections in order to become the number two.