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Israel's Netanyahu inks first deal with far-right
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Israel's Netanyahu inks first deal with far-right
AFP - Tuesday, March 17
JERUSALEM (AFP) - - Israeli prime minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu inked his first coalition deal with an ultra-nationalist party Monday, in the first step towards heading a right-wing government.
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Netanyahu's Likud signed an agreement with the Yisrael Beitenu party of Avigdor Lieberman, the controversial firebrand labelled a "racist" by critics who is due to become the foreign minister in the new government.
But in their agreement announced early on Monday, the two parties included a clause that stressed their preference for a unity cabinet and said the portfolio distribution would change if such a union were formed.
A narrow right-wing government is expected to put Israel at odds with its main ally the United States as it will likely put the brakes on the already hobbled peace negotiations with the Palestinians -- which President Barack Obama has vowed to pursue as part of his strategy.
In addition to the foreign ministry, Yisrael Beitenu will also get internal security, infrastructure, tourism and integration of new immigrants, officials said.
The agreement marks the first Netanyahu has reached since being tasked with forming a new government in the wake of a February 10 legislative election.
Lieberman is an immigrant from ex-Soviet Moldova who has built his reputation on controversial statements about Israeli Arabs that have earned him monikers of "racist" and "fascist" from critics and a reputation as a needed strong hand from supporters.
Ahmad Tibi, an MP with the United Arab List party in the Knesset, urged Europeans and Arabs to boycott Lieberman if he does become the foreign minister.
"I urge European foreign minister not to recognise this fascist who advocates the expulsion of Arabs," he told AFP. "I also call on Arab diplomats to boycott him and not meet with him, either in public or in private."
Lieberman supports keeping Israel's largest settlement blocks in the occupied West Bank in exchange for transferring heavily Arab populated areas in Israel to Palestinian control. He also wants Arab Israelis to take a loyalty oath in order to receive government benefits.
Netanyahu is hoping to present his government to parliament by the end of this week to avoid asking for an extension that will give him until April 3 to form a cabinet.
When he became Israel's youngest premier in 1996, he presided over a right-wing government that collapsed ahead of time three years later after small parties quit in protest of deals he signed with Palestinians under US pressure.
Keen to avoid such a scenario the second time around, he wants to head a broad-based cabinet that will have a better chance of surviving the notoriously tumultuous world of Israeli politics -- a fact that a senior aide emphasised even as the deal with Lieberman was announced.
"The agreement will note that we are interested in a unity government and should this transpire there will be changes," Gideon Saar, the head of the Likud negotiations team, told reporters.
"We are not shutting the door on unity."
The centrist Kadima of outgoing Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the centre-left Labour of outgoing Defence Minister Ehud Barak have repeatedly rejected Netanyahu's offer to join his cabinet.
But in a last-ditch effort to woo them, Netanyahu held talks with Livni over the past week, officials said on Sunday. The two, however, have so far failed to resolve their differences.
The two main sticking points are Kadima's demands for Netanyahu and Livni to take turns as prime minister and for the new government to sign up to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, media reports said.
Netanyahu rejects the idea of a Palestinian state in the short term, saying that economic conditions in the occupied West Bank must be improved before talks are conducted on any other issues.
Right-wing parties control 65 seats in the chamber -- 27 for Likud, 15 for Yisrael Beitenu, 11 for ultra-Orthodox Shas, and 12 split among three religious and far-right parties.
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Israeli prime minister designate Benjamin Netanyahu, seen here on March 2, inked his first coalition deal with an ultra-nationalist party early Monday, in the first step towards heading a right-wing government.
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