Livni: Nation is headed for elections

After Shas says it won't enter government, Kadima chairwoman fumes: "I'm sick of this extortion."

By SHELLY PAZ
livni sultry head on hands 224 88 ap (photo credit: AP)
livni sultry head on hands 224 88 ap
(photo credit: AP)
Kadima leader Tzipi Livni has failed to form a viable coalition and will recommend going to general elections when she meets President Shimon Peres on Sunday afternoon. Sources in Kadima said Livni made the decision at a meeting held late Saturday night with her advisers, among them Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz. The move came after Shas and Degel Hatorah, which constitutes half of the United Torah Judaism faction in the Knesset, announced over the weekend that they would not join a Livni-led government. "I'm sick of this extortion," Livni was quoted as telling her advisers. "We'll see all these heroes in 90 days." The most likely date for a national election is February 17, 2009. Livni is scheduled to inform Peres of her decision at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Though Peres is likely to accept her preference, by law he could also decide to appoint another MK whom he believes could form a stable government within 28 days. He has three days to decide if he wishes to do this. Shas announced on Friday that it had rejected Livni's offer to join her coalition, because its Council of Torah Sages advised against doing so. "The Council of Torah Sages decided this morning, after a telephone survey and in accordance with the directives of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, that Shas will not join the government," Shas chairman Eli Yishai told reporters outside his Jerusalem home. "The decision is final." Prior to the press conference, Shas had released a statement in which it said: "Throughout the negotiations, Shas hasn't asked for political upgrades or fancy titles. It has asked for only two things: a profound assistance to the weak socioeconomic classes living in Israel and the protection of Jerusalem," the statement read. "...Our negotiators proposed solutions for these two issues, but their opinion was not accepted," the statement said. One of Livni's close advisers said that Yishai was told as soon as the negotiations started that Livni would not accept a coalition agreement that excluded Jerusalem from the political talks with the Palestinians and that Yishai had nevertheless been willing to start coalition talks. "Kadima's financial offer was eventually NIS 650 million, while Eli Yishai demanded NIS 1 billion so the benefit for [large] families would be given to those with at least three children and not just to families with four children [or more]," a source in Shas party told The Jerusalem Post. "Throughout the entire negotiation, Yishai insisted he was helping not only his sector, but also the entire [population] of Israel, which carries the economic burden of providing for its children," the source added. Degel Hatorah, which had considered joining Livni's government, announced Saturday evening that its rabbis had decided not to join. "Degel Hatorah's rabbis didn't want to be the most haredi party that joins a government that doesn't exclude the Jerusalem issue from the political agenda, although we told Livni up front that if we join her government and the Jerusalem issue comes up, we must follow our rabbis' ruling," MK Avraham Ravitz told the Post. In the end, Kadima negotiators also ran into problems with the Gil Pensioners Party. They asked to meet with Gil's negotiators on Saturday night, but Gil chairman Rafi Eitan said that as long as Kadima did not present a serious draft that addressed his party's demands, they had no reason to meet again. "Kadima takes us for granted and they don't take our demands seriously," a source in the Gil Party told the Post. The Likud, naturally, was pleased by reports that elections are in the offing. "The failure is entirely Livni's," a Likud spokesman said. "There was a failure of leadership and poor decision making. "Livni was not decisive and gave in too easily during the entire negotiations," the spokesman continued. "She was willing to give in on everything, except for keeping Jerusalem united. These sort of failures prove that we need a new leadership, which will indeed be elected." Meretz leader MK Haim Oron said that if the coalition negotiations had failed, then the burning problems in the economic, social and political spheres make it urgent that elections be held as soon as possible. He said Meretz would hold a meeting on Sunday to begin preparations for the campaign.