Livni slams Netanyahu over US crisis, ER relocation

Kadima Chairwoman Tzipi Livni toured the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon Sunday along with other faction members, following the decision to relocate the hospital's emergency room due to the discovery of ancient tombs in the site.

"My visit here is part of a battle for Judaism and not against it, as well as for the values of Israel as a Jewish and democratic country."

Livni further added, "The story is not about the bones found here, but the decision-making process. We have a prime minister who succumbs to every whim of every political partner, and the entire public is paying the price for it."

Livni also used the opportunity to slam Netanyahu for mounting tensions between Israel and the US and the government's conduct in the international arena. "This Passover eve, every person should ask himself what has changed: The status of the State of Israel and Jerusalem, the status of women pushed to the back of the bus and the rights of patients, which have been pushed aside.

"We need different leadership and different policy as well as an organized point of view with which to go to the US – instead of pushing Israel into a corner and say that the whole world is against us."

Kadima faction members near the graves (Photo: Itzick Edri, Kadima)

In the backdrop of calls to add Kadima to the government in order to help solve the crisis with Washington Livni said, "The prime minister has chosen his natural partners for survival. He has no vision and for this reason his government is not trusted by the public and by the world. "

The Kadima chairwoman also stressed she has no intention of joining the government in order to stabilize it. "For that to happen one needs different leadership and different policy."

State responds to petition

Following attempts to change the government's decision regarding the Barzilai hospital, the State Prosecutor's Office filed its response with the High Court of Justice Sunday to a petition by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel.

The State rejected the claim suggesting biased conduct on the part of the examination team tasked with addressing the tombs affair.

"The factual infrastructure at the base of the petition is inaccurate. The movement did not exhaust all procedures before filing the motion and was quick in doing so before being given a response from the Prime Minister's Office to a letter issued a day earlier," the State's response noted.

Aviad Glickman contributed to this report