Yachimovich says Labor determined to sit in opposition
After meeting with PM Netanyahu, Labor chief says ideological gaps on socioeconomic issues, peace process 'too wide'
Following a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday evening, Labor Chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich announced that her party was determined to sit in the opposition.
"The gaps are very (wide). I did not hear anything that can bridge them," Yachimovich said after the meeting, which took place at the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem and lasted more than an hour.
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The Labor leader said that while the meeting was interesting, the gaps in the worldviews regarding the socioeconomic situation in Israel, as well as the peace process, were unfathomable.
"I did not hear anything new regarding these two issues. I respect the prime minister, and I will gladly meet with him again if he so wishes, but in light of the sharp differences, Labor will serve the nation from the opposition, as it has already decided," Yachimovich said.
'Wide gaps.' Yachimovich on her way to meeting with Netanyahu (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
The Labor chairwoman expressed hope that US President Barack Obama's scheduled visit to Israel in the spring would lead to a breakthrough in the peace process, which, according to her, would also benefit Israel's economy and improve its credit rating.
"We will support the government in any progress that is made in the peace process and with regards to any vital security issue, but we will do so from the opposition," she declared.
Yachimovich made similar remarks when Netanyahu called her following the January 22 elections. "We plan to be a determined opposition to the measures you are planning to make," she was quoted as telling the PM. "With regards to the diplomatic negotiations, which must be renewed urgently, the Labor Party will support any such step and back it from the opposition."
