Netanyahu to Be Asked to Form Israel’s Next Government

[brooklynite]

Source: NY Times

JERUSALEM, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Right-wing leader Benjamin Netanyahu will be asked to form the next Israeli government, the office of President Shimon Peres said in a statement on Friday, 10 days after a parliamentary election provided no clear winner.

The Likud party chief was due to meet the head of state at about 2:15 p.m. (1215 GMT) to receive a formal invitation to head the next administration, it said.

Netanyahu, who was prime minister in the 1990s, would then have six weeks to forge a coalition cabinet.

Peres met separately earlier in the day with Netanyahu and centrist Kadima party head Tzipi Livni to try persuade them to form a unity government, a presidential spokeswoman said.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/02/20/world/international-israel-election.html?_r=1&hp

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Gonna be a messy time in the Middle East

[rateyes]

1. Yuk. nt

[psychopomp]

2. It was lose-lose

Having the face of this enemy of peace as the leader of Israel should remove any illusions of Israel's intentions regarding the Palestinians. Still, there was never any difference between the leading parties on the question of the peace process anyways so what the hell. Bibi will probably have the settlements increased in number before he leaves office.
:(

[underpants]

3. Israel's Peres: Netanyahu will form new government

Source: AP/Yahoo

By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer Matti Friedman, Associated Press Writer – 3 mins ago
JERUSALEM – Israeli President Shimon Peres chose hard-line Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to form a new Israeli government, giving Netanyahu six weeks to cobble together a coalition.

The question now is whether Netanyahu will form a narrow government with his hard-line allies or a broad government along with his centrist rival, Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni. His choice will have serious ramifications for the Mideast peace process.

Peres made his announcement early Friday afternoon after holding meetings with Netanyahu and Livni. An official ceremony appointing Netanyahu was to be held shortly afterward.

The choice of Netanyahu was cemented on Thursday when Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the hawkish Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party, endorsed the Likud leader.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090220/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_politics

[Zhade]

4. Fuck. Talk about destabilizing the region.

This murderous expansionist is not going to help matters.

[loudsue]

13. So true. That choice is like throwing gasoline on a fire.

:cry: What in the hell are they thinking?

[LeftishBrit]

5. He has been given six weeks to form a government - let's hope he doesn't manage it.

It may end up with a unity government of all the main parties. Not ideal, but better than a Netanyahu- other RW parties (ugh!) coalition.

[Mugweed]

6. I don't get it.

If Livni got a bigger percentage of votes than Netanyahu, why is Netanyahu being tapped for this?

[Zodiak]

7. Because anotehr warmongering rightwing party added their votes to Netanyahu's

And that put Netanyahu over the top.

Right-wingers of different stripes hate peace and lefties more than each other.

This is a sad development for Mid-East peace.

[oberliner]

8. You need to be able to have a coalition of 61 seats to form a government

Although Livni's Kadima party won more seats than Netanyahu's Likud party, Likud was able to get pledges of support from several other parties bringing the total for his coalition above the 61 seat mark. Livni, on the other, was not able to get enough pledges of support from other parties to reach that threshold.

[snooper2]

9. With Obama in I think of this as a good thing...

It will be easier for him to compare the Israel's government to Hamas as equally causing problems, and may bring down more International pressure on both.

Of course I may be totally wrong...I'm sure Netanyahu will engage in some nasty shit though...

[AlphaCentauri]

10. That's how democracy works these days

the losers wins anyway

[mike_c]

11. that's very bad news for the middle east....

Netanyahu is a war-mongering right wing pig.

[NM Independent]

12. Ah, CRAP! n/t

[KamaAina]

14. Yikes! Good thing they don't have nukes! Otherwise...

...oh crikey...

:nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[crimsonblue]

15. God help the middle east if this happens..

Any chances of peace will be gone. Netanyahu is an extremist, and he opposes nearly all peace talks with Palestine.

[Chulanowa]

16. Let's have some more American politicians...

Mush-mouthing their way around, pretending Israel and Palestine are on "equal ground" as a reason we shouldn't interfere. Let's hear this butcher called a "friend of peace" by our statesmen... again. Let's see our shiny new president flap his hands and whimperat the thought of maybe having to say something that might make the Israelis a little upset - I like Obama, but I'm not holding out hope that his spine stretches quite so far as to take a moral and dignified stance in this region.