Labor leader says if Livni forms her own party it will only serve to further fragment Center bloc that opposes Netanyahu.
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Former Kadima leader Tzipi Livni should not form a new party and should join Labor instead, Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich said on Saturday.“Whoever wants to bring a different government to Israel and replace [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu cannot establish [new] parties that will stay small and will undermine the same group of voters and will not be a true alternative. The only alternative to Netanyahu is Labor under my leadership,” Yacimovich said at an event in an assisted living center in Tel Aviv.Livni is expected to announce on Monday that she is forming the “National Responsibility Party,” which will include Kadima MKs and new candidates, and will exclude any politicians with legal trouble, like former prime minister Ehud Olmert and former minister Haim Ramon.Yacimovich said Livni is a good person for the political system, and should join Labor as opposed to splitting up the “central bloc.”Later Saturday, Yacimovich wrote on her Facebook profile that she had invited Livni to join Labor several times.“The right way to do it is together, not apart,” she stated. “It is not worth it to ruin the chances of replacing the current government, which gives new hope to Israel.”The Labor leader expressed confidence that her party will be the largest in the Center-Left, regardless of new parties that may be formed between now and the January 22 election.Yacimovich pointed out on Facebook that, according to a poll in Ma’ariv and Makor Rishon, a new party formed by Livni would not hurt Labor much, but would cause Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party to lose several seats.