Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu met on motzei Shabbos in Tel Aviv with Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who heads the Labor Party, a coalition member. They discussed last week’s Kadima primaries and the election of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as the new party leader and prime minister-designate.

Aides to the defense minister confirmed the meeting, stating the two discussed various current political issues.

Barak has also announced his support for an emergency government, which he hopes will include Likud. Netanyahu on the other hand is more interested in moving to elections, with polls showing he is likely to emerge from such a process as the next prime minister. Some view Barak’s effort to establish an emergency government a move to bypass Livni ruling the current coalition, but still avoiding elections, which the polls indicate would leave Barak in a bad place, unlikely a candidate for a senior cabinet post.

On Sunday, Barak will meet with Livni, as well as with Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai, who heads the Shas Party, another coalition member.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)