Israel's Labor Unveils Election Pact with Centrist Livni
Opposition Labor party leader Issac Hertzog and centrist former justice minister Tzipi Livni on Wednesday announced an alliance to contest Israel's snap general election in March.
"When we receive the mandate ... I shall serve as prime minister for the first two years and Tzipi Livni will serve as prime minister for the second half" of the four-year term, Hertzog said at a televised news conference.
"Today the Zionist center has risen against the parties of the extreme right," said Livni, formerly Israel's chief peace negotiator with the Palestinians, who was fired from government last week by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused her of working against his right-leaning coalition from within.
"I am here to produce the force-multiplier that will replace the government of Israel," she said.
Polls published on Tuesday said an alliance between Labor and Livni's HaTnuah party could nudge Netanyahu's Likud from power.
A survey by parliament TV, published by Maariv newspaper, said that a partnership could win 23 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while Likud was projected to win 21.
Another poll by news website Globes put the figure at 24 for Labor-HaTnuah and 23 for Likud.
Netanyahu fired Livni and Finance Minister Yair and Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, before calling for an early election, which parliament on Monday set for March 17.
Source: Agence France Presse
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