Livni seeks unity with new Israeli government

JERUSALEM-Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni accepted the task of forming a new Israeli government on Monday following the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and called on her right-wing opponents to join a unity coalition.
There was no indication, however, that Benjamin Netanyahu, the former premier who leads the opposition Likud party, would drop his demand for an early parliamentary election instead-an election which opinion polls suggest he could win with ease.Livni was elected last week to succeed Olmert as leader of the centrist Kadima party, after he agreed to quit over a corruption scandal. Olmert tendered his resignation as premier on Sunday and, after consulting party leaders, President Shimon Peres asked Livni on Monday to form a new government.She faces a daunting struggle, however, to build a workable parliamentary majority from among the 13 parties represented in the Knesset-and until she does Olmert will remain in office as a caretaker, pursuing peace talks with the Palestinians.If Livni, a 50-year-old commercial lawyer who once worked for the Mossad spy agency, cannot win parliamentary approval for a cabinet within six weeks, Peres could turn to someone else. The more likely outcome of her failure would be an immediate election, well before the next vote is due in 2010."My priorities are to try and form a national unity government and maintain the present coalition," she said. "Otherwise I will lead the Knesset to new elections as soon as possible."If Livni succeeds, she will become Israel's first woman prime minister since Golda Meir in the 1970s.
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