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Netanyahu looks for way out of rightist coalition

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs a diplomatic process with the Palestinians to appease the international community, but the parties with which he is negotiating a coalition government are not challenging him on this issue.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a right-wing rally in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square March 15, 2015. Israel's centre-left opposition is poised for an upset victory in the upcoming parliamentary election, with the last opinion polls before Tuesday's vote giving it a solid lead over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4TGPH
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has often, including in recent days, spoken with longing of his second government, established in 2009 in partnership with his ultra-Orthodox allies and the Labor Party headed by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak. It was a fairly stable government that saw out almost four years of its term, during which it enjoyed international support by dint of the close ties between Barak and the US administration and the expectations generated by Netanyahu’s 2009 Bar Ilan speech. As long as Barak served in the government, the diplomatic stalemate of Netanyahu’s second government was considered bearable and something that could be contained.

The guidelines of that government expressed a commitment to restart negotiations with the Palestinians, including Barak’s demand that the government work to advance the Middle East peace process within the framework of a regional peace conference. This demand helped Barak obtain the approval of his party’s institutions for joining the Netanyahu government. Labor’s accession to the government put an end to the direct and indirect contacts for entering the coalition Netanyahu was conducting with then-chairwoman of the Kadima Party, Tzipi Livni, whose party had gotten 28 Knesset seats in the elections. In talks held at the time, the parties spoke extensively of negotiations with the Palestinians, which at that point had gotten to a very advanced stage between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

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