24 March 2009

Israel's Labor party voted on Tuesday to join forces with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, giving him the parliamentary majority needed to form a government, Israeli television reported.
  
Labor delegates voted 680-507 in favor of a coalition deal the centre-left party's leader, outgoing Defense Minister Ehud Barak, reached earlier in the day with Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud party, the reports said.
 
Barak and Netanyahu met early Tuesday morning and came to an agreement on a number of issues, narrowing the gap of differences which would prevent Labor from joining a Likud-led coalition.
 
The Labor Party's Central Committee will convene at Tel Aviv's Exhibition Grounds on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the matter. Chairman Ehud Barak met early Tuesday with Likud leader and Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and signed a coalition agreement which would be presented to the convention.
 
The two party leaders arrived at the Kfar Maccabiah Hotel in Ramat Gan in an attempt to bridge the differences and finalize the remaining issues in the coalition negotiations, mainly on the economic level.
 
At around 9 am, the sides reported of significant progress in the talks. The issues agreed upon and slated to appear in the coalition agreement between the two parties include the following:
 
- Israel will work to reach a comprehensive regional agreement for peace and cooperation in the Middle East.
 
- Israel is committed to all diplomatic and international agreements signed by the Israeli governments. The government will work to obtain peace agreements with each of its neighbors.
 
- The Israeli defense minister (Barak) will be a full partner in the diplomatic process and will be a partner in any limited forum aimed at making decisions in the diplomatic, security and economic field.
 
- The Israeli government will work to enforce the law in terms of the illegal outposts, as well as illegal Palestinian construction.
 
In his agreement to "all diplomatic deals" Netanyahu is essentially ratifying his old commitment to former US President George W. Bush's Road Map, which was adopted at the time by the Ariel Sharon government, alongside its reservations.
 
The map included the two-state for two people solution. In his coalition talks with Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni, the Israeli prime minister-designate had refused to commit to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
 
As for the economic issue, the sides agreed not to make significant decisions without bringing them to the approval of a "round table forum" comprised by representatives of the Treasury, the Histadrut labor federation, the Manufacturers Association of Israel and the social organizations. "We have reached unprecedented achievements," said Histadrut Chairman Ofer Eini, a member of Labor's negotiation team.
 
According to the agreement, the party will receive five ministers and two deputy ministers, as well as the chairmanship of a Knesset committee.
 
Israeli Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon said, "This agreement talks about a significant diplomatic process, as well as maintaining the rule of law in Israel. This is a dramatic agreement. I have sat in three governments and have not seen such a great achievement. Anyone who views themselves as part of a social-democratic party will find it difficult to support it."
 
The negotiations between Labor and the Likud were only launched on Monday, with Barak instructing his team to strike a deal quickly and bring it to the Central Committee's approval.
 
The team declared Monday that "there are fundamental difficulties and differences," and Likud officials said that the Labor representatives asked to re-discuss clauses included in the coalition deals signed with the Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas parties.
 
LABOR REBELS: BARAK DOESN’T REPRESENT US
The internal battle between Barak and the seven MKs who oppose him - Shelly Yachimovich, Ophir Pines-Paz, Eitan Cabel, Daniel Ben Simon, Amir Peretz, Yuli Tamir and Avishay Braverman - was taken up a notch on Monday when the Labor rebels sent an unprecedented letter to Netanyahu and his foreign minister-designate, Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman, in which they declared that they will not be bound by the coalition agreement that Labor and Likud are working on, since Barak was acting without authority.
 
"This is the first time in the history of the Labor Party," they wrote, "that the chairman has set up a coalition negotiating team without a thorough and extensive discussion within the party and without getting the approval of any of the party's organs. It is a gross violation of the party's constitution."
 
The rebels also warned Netanyahu of the consequences of Barak's actions. "You should know," they wrote, "that the negotiating team established by the 'Barak faction' within the Labor Party does not enjoy our backing or the backing of any authorized party official. It is unfortunate that the party chairman chose to manage party matters in this way. Given the circumstances, we must inform you that you cannot count on our support regarding any agreement that you may reach with Ehud Barak."
 
'USING LIEBERMAN’S METHODS'
Another clause which is making the opposing MKs' blood boil is Barak's plan to get the Central Committee's approval to appoint all of the party's ministers himself, as part of the decision to join the government. "He is a dictator, using (Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor) Lieberman's methods," one of the chairman's rivals stated Monday.
 
The two clauses will be voted on at the Central Committee, and the race appears to be close. But even if the committee does make Barak and Netanyahu's dream come true, the prime minister-designate's troubles are not over yet. It is still unclear how the seven Labor MKs opposing Barak will act in the Knesset. In addition, the Likud's coalition talks with haredi party United Torah Judaism are in the midst of a difficult crisis over the conversion issue.