Olmert and Livni Discuss Anti-Bibi Bloc
Former leaders Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni announced on Wednesday they were discussing a partnership that could shake up Israeli politics and lead to a joint campaign to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a January election.
Olmert, a centrist, was forced to quit as prime minister in 2008 over corruption charges of which he was largely acquitted.
Were he to make a comeback, he is seen as possibly the most likely candidate to beat Netanyahu, the right-wing Likud party leader, who polls now predict will win re-election.
Livni, who quit the centrist Kadima party in March after a failed leadership contest and headed Middle East peace talks which deadlocked months after Netanyahu took office, is also seen as a strong potential contender for Israel’s Jan. 22 race.
A statement from an aide to Olmert said he and Livni had agreed “action must be taken to change the leadership”, citing what it called “Israel’s deteriorated status” under Netanyahu. It alluded to tensions with the United States about how to rein in Iran’s nuclear programme and diplomatic paralysis with the Palestinians.
Both agreed to continue meeting and a confidant who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed Israeli media reports that they were weighing the prospect of a joint election run. A Livni aide also confirmed these talks took place.
It was not clear whether the pair would join one of Israel’s centre or left-leaning parties, or form their own.
Olmert and Livni once headed the centrist Kadima party, whose popularity has nosedived under their successor, former general Shaul Mofaz.
Founded by former prime minister Ariel Sharon, the party is now predicted to win only a handful of seats in parliament in the coming election, latest surveys show.
But Olmert and Livni may seek to tap into dissatisfaction among moderates in Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party over Netanyahu’s union this week with far-right Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, now running jointly in the coming election.
Despite the critics, the latest polls show Netanyahu winning as many as 42 seats in Israel’s 120-member parliament which would assure him of heading the country’s next coalition government.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
