Tzipi Livni
Photo: Tal Shahar
Livni aides: PM belittles Kadima, public
Kadima chairwoman briefs party on Netanyahu's unity offer, hints she is convinced it is nothing more than a political ruse
"Maximal tension – minimal trust," was how senior Kadima officials described the current state of affairs between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni, following their Sunday meeting in Jerusalem.
Monday will see Kadima vote on Netanyahu's unity offer, and party insiders said the motion stands to be denied. "(Netanyahu) was able to do what Livni couldn’t – unite Kadima," one said.
Musical Chairs
Attila Somfalvi
Prime minister, opposition leader hold 90-minute meeting in Jerusalem. According to Netanyahu's offer, government's guidelines will not change if Kadima joins, prime minister will continue leading peace negotiations
The opposition leader hinted that the meeting had convinced her that Netanyahu's offer for Kadima to join the government sans active offices, was indeed simply a political ruse.
"Bibi is the last person in Israeli politics who can preach about political schemes. The burden of proving how serious he is lies with him," a Kadima source told Ynet.
"(Livni) tried to figure out where he stands but he remained dismissive of everything Kadima represents and everything it promised its voters. His outright demand of Kadima to agree to all the deals he made up front says it all."
Sources close to Livni added that Netanyahu failed to offer her equal say in peace negotiations, offering only to include her in the team which he heads, and where he has the final say.
The offer, they added, did not even extend to including Livni in the special seven-minister cabinet, or the four-minister forum, leading her to believe the prime minister's offer was somewhat offhanded.
"Saying you're serious doesn’t make it so… this only proves that Netanyahu belittles the public, who should know exactly what motivates him," concluded the source.
Amnon Meranda contributed to this report
