It was a familiar story today when Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party met with their centrist rival Kadima (the top vote-getting in this month's elections) on forming a coalition. A lot of talk, no agreements, and both sides blaming the other for the failure. Kadima...
Likud, Rightist Parties Clash Over Civil Agenda
Having apparently failed in his attempts to court the Kadima and Labor parties into a grand coalition, Benjamin Netanyahu's attempts at forming a far-right government seem to be faltering as well. While everyone seems to be on board for the Likud leader's hawkish...
Plenty of Money, But Blockade Keeps Gaza Reconstruction Stalled
Over a month since hostilities halted, much of the Gaza Strip remains in ruins, untouched since it was obliterated by the Israeli invasion. The issue isn't money: Saudi Arabia's pledge of $1 billion soon after the war ended has been followed up by major pledges from...
Senior PA Official Declares Peace Process Dead
Citing the likely far-right nature of the next Israeli government, a senior Palestinian Authority official has declared the peace process between the two parties dead. The unnamed official declared that the next Israeli government would be "an extremist government...
Amnesty Calls for Arms Embargo on Israel, Hamas
Citing war crimes committed against civilians by both sides in last month's war in the Gaza Strip, Amnesty International urged in a report today that the international community impose an arms embargo on both the Israeli government and the Hamas government, as well as...
Rumors Grow That Netanyahu Wants to Bypass Livni in Kadima Talks
The question of whether or not to enter a center-right coalition government with the Likud Party remains a controversial one in the Kadima Party, and while party leader Tzipi Livni continues to publicly rule it out, Netanyahu isn't giving up. Today, the would-be prime...
Netanyahu’s Hopes for Unity Govt Fade
Even as he seems to have consolidated his support on the Israeli right, Benjamin Netanyahu's long-standing ambition to form a grand coalition including "all of the Zionist parties" seems to be very close to dead in the water. Ehud Barak's Labor Party today ruled out...
Netanyahu Calls for Broad Coalition Government
Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu has been charged with the task of attempting to form a coalition government, and while he would be able to piece together a coalition simply with the right-wing parties that supported his leadership bid, he is hoping to attract a...
Netanyahu Charged With Forming Next Israeli Govt
Israeli President Shimon Peres has tapped Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu to make the first attempt to form a coalition government in the wake of last week's elections. The announcement was widely expected after Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman endorsed...
Lieberman Demands Enormous Concessions to Join Likud Govt
While the endorsement of Yisrael Beiteinu chief Avigdor Lieberman has likely secured the Likud Party the first opportunity to form a coalition government, but getting the controversial right-winger to actually join that coalition is going to cost would-be Prime...