NEW ELECTIONS will be held in Israel early next year after the leader of the ruling Kadima party, foreign minister Tzipi Livni, informed president Shimon Peres yesterday that she had failed in her efforts to form a coalition, writes Mark Weiss
Ms Livni, who had been given a mandate to form a government after being elected the leader of the centrist Kadima in primaries last month, told the president that the potential coalition partners had made "impossible" demands.
"When it became clear that every party was exploiting the opportunity to make demands that were economically and diplomatically illegitimate, I decided to call off the talks and go to elections."
The Kadima leader had set a Sunday deadline for the negotiating partners to decide whether or not they would join the government, prompting the key ultra-orthodox Shas party on Friday to declare that it would not participate in a Livni-led coalition.
According to Shas representatives, the foreign minister would not commit to leaving the issue of Jerusalem off the agenda in peace talks with the Palestinians and failed to meet the party's demands for extra funds for child allowances.
After consulting with the leaders of the other parties, president Peres will decide within three days when new elections will be held.
Most commentators believe a February date is the most likely option. The next elections were due to be held in November 2010.
Prime minister Ehud Olmert, who, facing multiple corruption allegations, resigned as head of Kadima in July, will remain in office until a new government is formed.
Until then, Middle East peacemaking is effectively on hold.
Today, Mr Olmert will address the Knesset parliament at the opening of its winter session, but he has already made it clear that, as caretaker prime minister, he will not be making any political statements.
The political uncertainty in Israel means the already-slim hopes of Israel and the Palestinians meeting the American deadline of clinching a peace deal before President George Bush leaves office have evaporated.
Nabil Abu Radeineh, an aide to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, summed up Palestinian frustration with the latest development. "Time is precious. The next few months will be wasted because of new elections and the US elections."
The indirect peace contacts between Israel and Syria, held earlier this year, were already being suspended after Mr Olmert announced he was resigning.
Polls in Israel show a close race between Ms Livni and former prime minister Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu, who rejects land-for-peace deals with both the current Palestinian leadership and Syria.