Kadima and Labor reach coalition deal

Representatives of parties pen partial agreement; Livni and Barak aim to finalize deal Tuesday evening.

By JPOSTLEO GIOSUÈCOM STAFF, GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN, AP
ehud barak happy 248.88 (photo credit: AP)
ehud barak happy 248.88
(photo credit: AP)
Kadima and Labor party representatives penned a partial coalition deal Monday afternoon, according to which Labor chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak will be a senior partner in the government to be put together by Kadima leader and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Kadima MK Tzahi Hanegbi and Labor representative Efi Oshaya signed the agreement, which was reached about after 17 hours of negotiations, just before the beginning of Succot. Discussions will continue on a number of issues that remain unresolved, and Livni and Barak aim to sign a final version of the coalition agreement at a meeting on Tuesday evening. Labor spokeswoman Lior Avnon said the remaining disagreements concerned pensions and the appointment of judges, among other matters. On Sunday night, Hanegbi, the head of Kadima's negotiating team, engaged in late-night shuttle diplomacy for the second night in a row between Livni's home in Tel Aviv's Ramat Hahayal neighborhood and Barak's penthouse in the city's Akirov Towers. "Tonight's the night," Hanegbi had told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. "If there is no agreement tonight, there won't be a deal at all." Barak had approved the majority of a draft proposal submitted by Kadima to Labor on Sunday, according to which he will not receive any of what he demanded when the coalition-building process began three weeks ago. Barak will not receive nearly equal footing with Livni at the head of the government, he won't head Israel's negotiating team with Syria, Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann will keep his position, and the framework of the 2009 state budget won't be expanded. Instead, Barak will be promoted from deputy prime minister to the new title of "senior deputy prime minister." He will be involved in the negotiations with Damascus and will be able to prevent issues from being raised in the security cabinet. Labor will be able to prevent the advancement of Friedmann's judicial reforms and a limited sum will be allocated to two of Labor's pet causes, raising senior citizens' benefits and lowering university tuition. The only changes to the Kadima proposal that Barak requested were in the clauses involving Friedmann.