Kadima leader Tzipi Livni late Sunday night rejected Binyamin Netanyahu’s efforts to convince her to join a Likud-led unity government but agreed to meet again with the Prime Minister-designate. He received encouragement earlier in the day when Livni’s predecessor, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, praised Netanyahu at a Cabinet meeting for his efforts to create a wide coalition including the major parties. Netanyahu and Livni met Sunday night for the first time since the Knesset election two weeks ago. The Likud leader and former Prime Minister promised Kadima "full partnership” in the government, meaning at least two of the three top ministerial spots in the defense, finance and foreign affairs portfolios. However, Livni has insisted on a rotational government in which she and Netanyahu each would serve as prime minister for two years. She has refused the offer for a unity government because of what she says are basic differences in the parties' policies. Livni favors continuing negotiations with the Palestinian Authority for a new Arab state it wants to head, while Netanyahu has conditioned the establishment of such a state on the PA’s existence as a viable economic entity, among other factors Differences in their stands on the Golan Heights are more stark, with the Likud emphatically refusing to negotiate a surrender of the strategic area to Syria, in contrast to Livni’s willingness to raise the issue with Damascus. Explaining her refusal to join a unity government, she said, “If we compromise in order to be partners in a government which has a path that is not our path, it will be betraying the confidence of voters.” Most of Kadima's senior party members have publicly backed her stand, which would leave Netanyahu with the alternative of forming a government coalition with the Israel Is Our Home (Yisrael Beiteinu), Shas, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) Ichud Leumi (National Union) and Jewish Home parties. Livni, after taking over the helm of Kadima from Olmert last September, failed to form a unity government because she rejected the Shas party’s conditions for joining a coalition. Netanyahu also rejected her offer for unity government, explaining that the country wanted elections. Voters went to the polls February 10 to election a new national government, but the outcome showed a sharp division in the population. Kadima eked out a one-seat victory over the Likud but was left without any support from other parties to form a government, leaving both Livni and Netanyahu to declare each as the winner in the election.
