BICOM

Israel’s President Shimon Peres is expected to meet party leaders individually later this week to request their recommendation on who he should ask to form the next government following last week’s election.

While Peres is almost certain to ask incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a coalition Yair Lapid, the leader of the second biggest party Yesh Atid, has reiterated his conditions for joining such a government. In an interview yesterday on Channel Two, he said “We need to go back to the negotiating table” with the Palestinians but emphasised “my first commitment is to the Israeli middle class.” He explained that “If we have an equal share of the [military service] burden, a small cabinet free of ministers without portfolio, and we solve our housing problems… these things strengthen the peace process,” which requires “a healthy, functioning Israeli society.”

Meanwhile, the ultra-Orthodox party United Torah Judaism yesterday held its first faction meeting since the election and called on Netanyahu to form a government with them and Shas rather than Yesh Atid. Party leaders warned that they would not join a coalition which attempts to extend the military draft to students in religious seminaries. Shas co-chairman Aryeh Deri told Channel Ten that he was preparing to take his party into opposition.

The Labour Party also held its first post-election faction meeting yesterday. The party’s Knesset members reportedly backed leader Shelly Yachimovich’s resolve not to join a Netanyahu-led government, but several apparently criticised her failure to consult with them over major decisions. Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post quotes a Kadima official who denied suggestions that the party, which won two seats last week, will merge with Yesh Atid or Likud-Beitenu.