Livni: Joining Likud gov't a breach of voters' trust

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Joining a Likud government would be a breach of Kadima voters' trust and an act of self-delusion, Kadima leader Tzipi Livni said on Sunday evening. Speaking to the Kadima faction in the Knesset ahead of her scheduled meeting with Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu, Livni stressed the difficulties she perceived in the idea of her party joining a Likud-led coalition. "These days are a test for Kadima. People are looking at us. We presented our stance. We spoke during the campaign about content and ideology, about the difference between hope and despair and between 'two states for two peoples' and no path at all," she said. "We spoke about Israel as a Jewish democratic state. That's why we asked for the trust for the public. We received a wave of support on the condition that we keep our promises. If we compromise and don't lead our path by joining a government with a path that's not ours, it would violate the trust of our voters," added Livni. Livni continued to pave her party's way to the opposition. "When we talked about unity, we talked about unity of content. There are people among those Netanyahu calls his 'natural partners' whose content is problematic," she emphasized. "Netanyahu helped prevent us from forming a government. This is our first test. We cannot delude ourselves or our voters. I am not looking for words to cheat myself. Words are not reversible. The decision is not easy. Even if we're in the opposition we can support the government when it does the right thing and oppose it when it does the wrong thing." "Portfolios are not important," Livni insisted.