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Olmert and FM Tzipi Livni congratulate each other as they celebrate after early exit polls in Israel's general elections. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners March 30, 2006 |
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Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert began informal negotiations Wednesday with dovish and religious factions to try to knit together a coalition government that will give him the freedom to carry out a partial withdrawal from Judea and Samaria.
A day after Olmert's centrist Kadima Party won Israeli elections, party officials said they would need at least a year to finalize their plans for a pullout, while waiting to see if the Palestinians' new Hamas-led Cabinet, which was sworn in Wednesday night, moderated its position toward Israel.
Olmert has said he preferred to set Israel's borders in the framework of a peace deal, but would unilaterally withdraw from most of Judea and Samaria, while strengthening Israel's hold over major settlement blocs, if an agreement cannot be quickly reached.
Such an agreement appeared highly unlikely with Hamas' rise to power. The Palestinian militant group, responsible for dozens of suicide attacks on Israel, has brushed off Western demands to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.
Hamas officials quickly rejected Olmert's plan.
"Olmert's statement is a clear threat," said Nasser Shaer, Hamas' deputy prime minister. "He has his own plan, and he wants to implement it, whether we accept it or not."
Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was elected last year to a four-year term, urged Olmert to resume peace talks. "We assume that this government, if it wants to start off right, will follow a policy based on peace, based on negotiations, based on international legitimacy," he said.
Israeli officials said they would continue working with Abbas, but did not see him as an alternative to Hamas, which Israel refuses to deal with unless it renounces violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist and respects past accords.
"We are all very cognizant of the fact that the real political power has been transferred, unfortunately, to Hamas," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "And there has to be a question, when you deal with someone, when you negotiate with someone, do they have the ability to deliver?"
Kadima captured 28 seats in Israel's 120-member parliament in Tuesday's elections, about seven seats less than had been predicted, but more than any other party.
U.S. President George W. Bush congratulated Olmert in a phone call Wednesday and invited him to visit Washington after he forms his government. Olmert told Bush he planned to follow in the footsteps of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who remains comatose after suffering a devastating stroke on Jan. 4, according to Olmert's office.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair also called Olmert and French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said the election result was "good news for peace."
Israel's ceremonial president, Moshe Katsav, said he will talk to party leaders next week about forming a coalition. Traditionally, the president taps the leader of the largest party to form a government. The would-be premier then has six weeks to form a coalition backed by 61 lawmakers.
"I assume there will be a stable government," Katsav told Israel Army Radio.
Haim Ramon, a senior Kadima lawmaker, said the party is confident it will have a government in place after the weeklong Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins in mid-April. "I believe we will have more than 70 legislators who will support the disengagement plan," Ramon told Israel Radio, referring to the expected pullout.
Kadima officials said informal talks had already begun and its likely coalition partners include the Labor Party, which won 20 seats with a campaign advocating a higher minimum wage and guaranteed pensions for the elderly; the Pensioners' Party, which won seven seats, the ultra-Orthodox Shas, which captured 13 seats, and a smaller Orthodox party.
The dovish Meretz party could also join the coalition with its four seats, and Olmert is likely to receive tacit support from Arab parties that won 10 seats.
Olmert and Labor leader Amir Peretz plan to meet in the coming days, Kadima officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the sensitive talks.
Labor lawmaker Eitan Cabel said the party would seek the coveted Finance Ministry. But Olmert, a staunch capitalist, opposes that, the Kadima officials said.
"We have more than one option to establish a government. That is one of the best things about yesterday's results. It will depend on the price ... and negotiations," said Lior Horev, a Kadima adviser.
Olmert has said that only parties that agree to his withdrawal plan will be asked to join the coalition.
Kadima lawmaker Otniel Schneller said that during its first year in power, the new government would try to finalize its withdrawal plan while waiting to see whether Hamas moderates its views.
Schneller, an architect of the plan, told The Associated Press that Kadima will coordinate preparations with settler leaders, while also aiming to guarantee the Palestinians a viable independent state on a continuous stretch of territory. "There is no precise timetable," he said.
Jewish settler leaders, who oppose any withdrawal, scrambled to contain the damage from the election. "We don't think that Olmert got a mandate to go ahead with his destructive plans," settler leader Shaul Goldstein said. "We will find a way to protest and battle, but we won't be dragged to violence."
Brief profiles of Olmert's possible coalition partners and their likely demands
KADIMA, a centrist party formed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and now led by Olmert, wants to draw Israel's final borders and ensure the country's Jewish majority by giving up large parts of the West Bank. The party won 28 of parliament's 120 seats in Tuesday's election, and will be tapped to form Israel's next government.
LABOR, a center-left party, whose leader, former union boss Amir Peretz, emphasizes a more egalitarian economy. Peretz has said he would insist on a hike in the minimum wage, universal pensions and an end to the large-scale use of temporary employees with no benefits as the party's price for joining the government. Labor, which won 20 seats, is likely to receive top Cabinet jobs, such as finance, and possibly defense.
PENSIONERS, the surprise winner Tuesday, taking seven seats just weeks after forming. Chairman Rafi Eitan has said the party would be willing to join any government that would meet its demands to improve insurance, social security and pension rights for senior citizens.
SHAS, founded in the early 1980s by ultra-Orthodox Jews of Sephardi, or Middle Eastern, origin. Shas' spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has said saving lives is more important than keeping territory, but his followers tend to be more hawkish. The party, whose constituency is largely blue-collar, will press to restore social spending slashed in recent years. It won 13 seats.
UNITED TORAH JUDAISM, an ultraOrthodox Jewish party that won six seats, has already indicated its willingness to join in a coalition with Olmert in exchange for control of parliament's powerful Finance Committee. Its main thrust is increased social spending for its constituency, among Israel's poorest.
MERETZ, a dovish party led by Yossi Beilin, an architect of the interim peace deals with the Palestinians. Meretz is ready to give up most of the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem in a peace deal. The party advocates the drafting of a constitution, the separation of religion and state, and higher spending on the country's disadvantaged. Meretz took four seats.
LIKUD, Israel's dominant party for three decades, once led by Sharon, and now headed by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Party leaders who stayed in Likud after Sharon's defection to Kadima opposed his Gaza Strip withdrawal. But if Netanyahu is ousted as punishment for the party's weak electoral showing, Likud could be a potential partner if a more moderate chairman replaces him. Likud's representation in parliament sank to 11 from 38 in 2003 elections.
YISRAEL BEITENU, led by Avigdor Lieberman, a former Netanyahu adviser. Lieberman is an immigrant from Russia, and his hawkish party supports immigrant rights and seeks to curb what Lieberman views as the excessive powers of the police force, the Justice Ministry and the courts. As a West Bank settler, Lieberman also opposes territorial concessions to Palestinians, but has said he is open to considering a coalition with Olmert. His party won 11 seats on Tuesday, up from two in 2003.
AP contributed to this report.
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