Simhon: Barak favors early elections

Agriculture minister cites closed conversations with Labor chairman; Livni to hold talks with Shas.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN, JPOST.COM STAFF
Livni 224.88 (photo credit: GPO)
Livni 224.88
(photo credit: GPO)
Labor chairman Ehud Barak favors opting out of a Tzipi Livni-led coalition and going to elections instead, Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon, a close associate of the Labor leader, said Thursday. "I think that it would be right to advance elections. I say this from Labor's point of view on the one hand and on the other hand, out of consideration for what is good for Israel." Simhon said that Barak's stance was close to his own. "In closed conversations with me, he [Barak] has backed my position," he claimed. However, the agriculture minister wouldn't rule out understandings being reached in coalition talks that would eventually lead to a Livni-led coalition. Meanwhile, Kadima MK Yohanan Plesner said Livni was likely to show flexibility on broadening the budgetary framework. He told Army Radio that the current framework was not "sacred" and that the most important thing now was to build a stable coalition. Nevertheless, Plesner's Kadima colleague Tzahi Hanegbi said that the party would prefer early elections than giving in to the "extortion" of coalition partners. "From our point of view, early elections are preferable to any other scenario which results from breaking the budgetary framework. The government has given in to coalition extortion [in the past], but this isn't how Tzipi Livni will work," he told the radio station. Livni will continue her coalition-building efforts later Thursday, and is set to hold talks with Shas representatives. Livni and her husband Naftali Spitzer hosted Barak and his wife Nili Priell for dinner at their North Tel Aviv home on Wednesday night, but neither side reported progress in ongoing coalition talks. "There is a good atmosphere, but our requests are not being answered," Barak's spokesman said after the dinner. Talks between Kadima and Labor will also continue Thursday, involving negotiators Yisrael Maimon of Kadima and Efi Oshaya of Labor. Livni also hosted defeated Kadima leadership candidate Shaul Mofaz at her home Monday. Her spokesman said they discussed cooperation, but not portfolios. Mofaz is set to return to the Transportation Ministry Thursday after a short break which followed his Kadima primary defeat.