Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, tapped last week to attempt and form a coalition, met with Kadima Chairman Tzipi Livni and reportedly offered her party two top portfolios. He supposedly even offered Livni “full partnership” in the government including input on the government’s policy statements. However, Netanyahu said that he would not be “bullied” into a centrist coalition at the behest of current Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Some members of Likud are even urging the creation of a hard-line right wing government without Kadima or Labor.
Haaretz obtained draft version of the Durban II resolutions following the culmination of plenary sessions last week. The United States attended the events in order to alter the anti-Zionist rhetoric expected for the conference. However, the draft documents single-out Israel and will likely result in U.S. dissent towards the event.
Elliot Abrams, a former member of the national security team under President George W. Bush, wrote a piece for the recent issue of the Weekly Standard on the formation of a Palestinian state. He asserts that institution building within the territories must occur in order to create a viable Palestinian state.
Robert Fisk writes a retort to yesterday’s New York Time’s piece asserting that President Obama may not believer Netanyahu’s recent “pragmatism.”
