Livni, Barak meet while PM visits Egypt
Defense minister, opposition leader meet on backdrop of tensions between Netanyahu, Lieberman. Kadima sources say Livni clarified her faction will enter coalition only after government's composition, basic guidelines are changed
The meeting, initiated by Barak, was held at the defense minister's office at the Kirya base in Tel Aviv. The two were said to have discussed diplomatic and security-related issues, but the meeting likely focused on the government's composition as well, despite denials from sources close to Livni.
Barak has called on Netanyahu to expand the government and add Kadima several times in the past, but Livni has rejected this possibility. According to sources in her party, she clarified to Barak that the government's composition and basic guidelines must change before Kadima considered joining.
A senior Kadima official reiterated that "in the current situation there is nothing to talk about. If Barak wants to create a united front and come with us to Bibi, it's possible. Otherwise, it's a waste of time."
Livni's associates in the party, however, said the meeting did not focus on political issues and that Barak requested to discuss security-related matters. According to the sources, the two did not discuss a change in the government's composition.
"Talking to Barak is like talking to a political corpse," one of the sources said. "It's not interesting."
'Beginning of a move'
Sources in the political arena have estimated that in light of the crisis in the coalition and the diplomatic isolation on the one hand, and the need to make progress in the peace process on the other hand, a dynamic is underway which may lead to a change in the coalition's composition."If something happens, it won't happen tomorrow," a source in the political arena told Ynet. "But there is no doubt that this meeting marks the beginning of a move which we should pay attention to."
The disagreement between Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party and the Likud began after Minister Lieberman was not informed about a secret meeting between Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. It continued after Netanyahu withdrew from the agreement between the two parties on the conversion issue, and reached its peak after Yisrael Beiteinu opposed the state budget, which was approved Friday.
"Netanyahu has screwed up and he knows it, so he will eventually pay," an Yisrael Beiteinu official said Sunday. The source clarified that the party had not plans to quit the government at this time, but stressed that the party's interests were its top priority.
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