RAMALLAH, West Bank: Kadima leader Tzipi Livni yesterday put an end to any remaining hopes in the Likud party that a national-unity government with Kadima could be formed when she ended her meeting with Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, after the latter refused to include the “two states for two people solution” in his government’s basic guidelines.
“Two states (one for the Israelis and one of the Palestinians) is not an empty slogan,” Livni said as she left the meeting.
“Unity is not just sitting in a government together. It also means sharing a way.” The two officials met at a Tel Aviv hotel for about two hours in what was described as a last-ditch attempt to form a unity government.
“I came to meet with the Likud chairman for a second time in order to hear about his vision and the way he wishes to implement it. Israel is facing challenges. I told him Kadima would support any right moves by the government,” Livni said.
“In order to deal with the challenges I wanted three fundamental things which you are aware of,” she said. “Two states is not an empty slogan. It’s the only way Israel can remain Jewish and fight terror. It’s a matter of principle.”
“We discussed the issues. I didn’t see any commitment on Bibi’s (Netanyahu’s nickname) part to these issues. The meeting ended without any understandings, and we cannot be part of Netanyahu’s government,” Livni stated, vowing to act as “a responsible opposition.”
After the meeting Netanyahu said that even during the elections campaign he had promised to form a unity government.
“I appealed to Ms. Livni and told her that. Unity calls for compromise. I was willing to make compromises in her favor — I proposed to her that we write the basic guidelines together, an equal number of portfolios, two out of three,” he said.
