Realizing tensions are mounting between the Kadima Party and the main coalition partner, Labor; officials in Kadima have already begun making contact with Yisrael Beitenu Party leader MK Avigdor Lieberman, hoping to bring him into the coalition, thereby adding 11 mandates.
Signaling the Kadima agenda was Interior Minister Roni Bar-On, a close confidant of Olmert, who on Thursday called for widening the coalition. Bringing Yisrael Beitenu into the coalition would be based on Lieberman’s 5-point letter given to Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, in which he calls for changing the form of government in Israel.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Labor leader Defense Minister Amir Peretz, speaking of the possibility of widening the coalition. Peretz released harsh statements against Lieberman and his right-wing party, seemingly trying to sabotage such efforts which would only weaken Labor’s position in the Kadima-led coalition.
In the meantime, it is evident that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert does not have any alternative as the chasm between him and Peretz widens.
Coalition partners do not take Bar-On’s calls for “Zionist parties” to join the coalition seriously; viewing the move as Kadima muscle-flexing in the hope of persuading coalition partners to back off regarding budgetary demands.
Peretz during a faction meeting reiterated Labor’s commitment to the coalition, while warning “there are red lines,” citing the budget may not cut into monthly welfare allocations, as well as payments to the elderly and the minimum wage. These items, explained Peretz, a former Histadrut national labor federation leader, would compel Labor to re-think its place within the coalition.
Analysts agree that the ruling coalition cannot continue without increased support, but the added pressure of mounting calls for an independent state commission of inquiry into the war in Lebanon further jeopardize Olmert’s and Peretz’s political futures.
While Olmert continues to express adamant opposition to the formation of an independent commission, Peretz has already changed his position and is now an open proponent of such a move, saying he is confident he will be cleared of any wrongdoing by such a commission. Peretz in the Labor faction meeting used the forum to once again place much of the blame on his predecessor, Shaul Mofaz, who in the current government serves as minister of transportation.
Signaling the Kadima agenda was Interior Minister Roni Bar-On, a close confidant of Olmert, who on Thursday called for widening the coalition. Bringing Yisrael Beitenu into the coalition would be based on Lieberman’s 5-point letter given to Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, in which he calls for changing the form of government in Israel.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Labor leader Defense Minister Amir Peretz, speaking of the possibility of widening the coalition. Peretz released harsh statements against Lieberman and his right-wing party, seemingly trying to sabotage such efforts which would only weaken Labor’s position in the Kadima-led coalition.
In the meantime, it is evident that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert does not have any alternative as the chasm between him and Peretz widens.
Coalition partners do not take Bar-On’s calls for “Zionist parties” to join the coalition seriously; viewing the move as Kadima muscle-flexing in the hope of persuading coalition partners to back off regarding budgetary demands.
Peretz during a faction meeting reiterated Labor’s commitment to the coalition, while warning “there are red lines,” citing the budget may not cut into monthly welfare allocations, as well as payments to the elderly and the minimum wage. These items, explained Peretz, a former Histadrut national labor federation leader, would compel Labor to re-think its place within the coalition.
Analysts agree that the ruling coalition cannot continue without increased support, but the added pressure of mounting calls for an independent state commission of inquiry into the war in Lebanon further jeopardize Olmert’s and Peretz’s political futures.
While Olmert continues to express adamant opposition to the formation of an independent commission, Peretz has already changed his position and is now an open proponent of such a move, saying he is confident he will be cleared of any wrongdoing by such a commission. Peretz in the Labor faction meeting used the forum to once again place much of the blame on his predecessor, Shaul Mofaz, who in the current government serves as minister of transportation.