Labor party chairman, MK Amir Peretz, does not believe that the left-wing Meretz party will strike a deal with Ehud Barak and his Democratic Israel party.

Just a week ago, Peretz spoke of the left-wing wing and the need for parties to unite ahead of elections, but after Labor and last week signed an agreement with Orli Levi and her Gesher party, he is now blocking additional agreements with the left.

Speaking to Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) on Sunday morning, Peretz clarified that he will not be teaming together with Meretz or the party headed by Ehud Barak, Democratic Israel. He explained that aligning with those parties would block future agreements with others.

Meretz leader Nitzan Horowitz and others, both within Labor and from other parties, accuse Peretz of not ruling out entering into a coalition government headed by Binyamin Netanyahu. This seems even more possible after he aligned with Levi and her right-wing Gesher party.

He told Galei Tzahal that he has no intention of entering into a coalition headed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for as long as there are indictments against him. However, he admitted that if the attorney general cancels the indictments against him, then he too would be willing to join a Netanyahu-led coalition government.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)