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"The Likud and Kadima will be able to form a government together under the leadership of Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, on the basis of equality between the two parties, senior officials in both parties said Wednesday.
A day after Kadima leader Tzipi Livni and Netanyahu each declared victory in Tuesday's election, they both began a race against time to form a coalition on paper before President Shimon Peres started the process of appointing one of them to build a government next week.
Netanyahu and Livni both met with the leader of what has become the third largest party, Israel Beiteinu's Avigdor Lieberman, in an attempt to woo him. But Lieberman raised several demands that either prime ministerial candidate would have a hard time accepting.
Livni appointed a coalition negotiating team of five top Kadima ministers and MKs and the party will continue with its political horse-trading in an effort to persuade Peres to let Livni form a government.
But privately, senior Kadima officials said they were well aware that Peres would ask Netanyahu to form a government because of the Right bloc's 65-55 advantage over the Left, and that if Likud offered Kadima a sweet deal, they should take it."
moreKadima officials: Livni should consider sitting in the opposition http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3670588,00.htmlPolitical sources estimate Peres will task Netanyahu with forming next government; Kadima official says Livni 'should not necessarily be dragged into Netanyahu government that also features Shas, Lieberman' <
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"Tzipi Livni should consider sitting in the opposition and attacking the Likud's policy, and within a year-and-a-half Kadima will lead the country," a Kadima party official told Ynet Wednesday night amid coalition negotiations launched on the heels of Tuesday's inconclusive general elections.
Political establishment sources estimate that, barring any unforeseen developments, President Shimon Peres will eventually task Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu with establishing the next government.
Earlier in the day Netanyahu met with Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman and Shas leader Eli Yishai, and later told a Likud faction meeting that he would work diligently to guarantee that they would join the coalition as soon as possible.
Lieberman refused to say which candidate his party would recommend to Peres, but political sources said he has already struck a deal with Netanyahu to ensure that the Likud chairman would be tasked with forming the next government.
Political sources postulated that Netanyahu will go to great lengths to include Kadima in his government, and may guarantee Livni's party as many as eight important ministerial portfolios towards this end.
Kadima, for its part, is looking to thwart the burgeoning right-wing bloc, but a party official said Chairwoman Livni should "seriously consider the possibility of sitting in the opposition, and not necessarily be dragged into a Netanyahu government that also features Shas, Lieberman, and possibly united Torah Judaism."