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May 28, 1999/13 Sivan 5759, Vol. 51, No.35
Barak picks Likud as coalition partner
DAFNA LINZER
Associated Press
HERZLIYA, Israel - A week after beating it at the polls, Ehud Barak's Labor Party named the hard-line Likud as its preferred junior coalition partner on May 25, reinforcing the prime minister-elect's cautious approach to Mideast peace talks.
Labor seeks to work with Likud "in the hope of finding national consensus in a period where important decisions will be made, both domestically and abroad," said David Libai, the head of Barak's coalition negotiation team. Libai spoke after meeting with Likud ministers at a luxury seaside hotel in the northern Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya.
Arab leaders, frustrated with a stagnating peace process under outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had welcomed Barak's victory. However, they expressed concern after he promised in his victory speech last week to keep Jerusalem united under Israeli rule and not to return Israel to its 1967 borders.
Some Labor Party members had favored the ultra-Orthodox Shas over Likud, which Labor has blamed for stalling the peace process. But negotiations with Shas did not go as well as they did for Likud.
At the end of the Likud meeting, party members - devastated by Barak's landslide victory May 17 - emerged confident and smiling. "They want us very much. They said so loud and clear," said outgoing Communications Minister Limor Livnat.
Although Likud lost 13 seats in the elections, it still emerged as the second-largest party in parliament, with 19 seats. Labor won 26 seats in the 120-seat Knesset and Shas won 17.
Livnat, among the most hawkish members of Netanyahu's government, said she was optimistic about entering a coalition.
Yossi Beilin, a leading Labor Party member, said guidelines would be created jointly among the coalition partners and that the peace process would only move forward once the government was established. Barak has 45 days to present his coalition to parliament.
Palestinian officials said this week that they hoped to see a government committed to advancing the peace process.
Barak has said he wants to build a consensus to proceed with peace talks. With Likud inside his coalition, rather than fighting from the opposition, he could accelerate implementation of the U.S.-brokered peace accords.
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