Amid political reshuffling, Labor courts 'undecided' Livni

Former Kadima leader tells Labor she has not decided whether to run in January elections; Kadima MK Nachman Shai jumps to Labor; Rabbi Piron to be Lapid's number two; Economist Shlomo Maoz to join Likud Beytenu.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Livni on CNN 370 (photo credit: Screenshot)
Livni on CNN 370
(photo credit: Screenshot)
Amid a flurry of political announcements ahead of upcoming party primaries, former opposition leader Tzipi Livni told a group of Labor activists on Saturday she had not yet decided whether to run.
The activists met with Livni in her home to persuade her to run with the party in the upcoming elections, according to Army Radio.
Speaking in Channel 2's "Meet the Press" program, Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich reiterated her respect for Livni and asserted that she "has a place in politics." When pressed on whether she would be inviting Livni to join the party as her number two, Yacimovich refused to answer, saying that she knows very well how to warmly invite people to her party when she wants to, but would not do so in a television studio.
Meanwhile, political announcements continued to trickle in as party primaries drew closer.
Kadima MK Nachman Shai announced Saturday that he left his party to run with Labor in the January elections.
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"This is the time to think big, to act big and to unite forces out of national responsibility and values," Shai said. "The Labor party is creating a sharp and clear alternative to the Netanyahu-Liberman party."
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid will present National-religious Rabbi Shai Piron as his number two on Sunday, the party spokesman announced Saturday evening.
Piron, 47, is one of the founders of the national-religious rabbinical group Tzohar and CEO of Hakol Hinuch, the Movement for the Advancement of Education in Israel. He has been mentioned in reports on Yesh Atid’s list since Lapid announced he is entering politics in early 2012.
The former chief economist for Excellence Nessuah investments, Shlomo Maoz, announced that he will run for a spot on the Likud list in upcoming primaries.
In January, Excellence Nessuah fired Maoz for making racially-charged comments, saying “Bank Leumi is a bank of white people" run by an "Ashkenazi elite." The investment house called the remarks "crude and unfortunate."
Yacimovich blasts Olmert
During an interview with Channel 2, Yacimovich voiced her disapproval of the possibility that former prime minister Ehud Olmert would reenter politics.
Yacimovich said she could not accept into politics someone with a criminal conviction, who is furthermore, still in the middle of an additional trial. She added that she believed he had been an awful prime minister who led the country into two wars.
Amid the political reshuffling, Yacimovich also said that that the old definition of Left and Right is no longer relevant.
For a long time Israel's Left and Right have been defined purely by politics, and not by economics, she said. She further opined that for a state to be able to make peace, it firstly needs a strong socio-economic basis. "I came into politics for a just economic system," the Labor leader stressed.