Livni refuses Netanyahu's appeal to join Israeli coalition

Israeli prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu failed to convince Kadima party Leader Tzipi Livni on Friday to join a unity government, forcing the hawkish Likud party leader to look to right-wing and religious parties to form a coalition.

Netanyahu said he offered Livni two top cabinet posts in his government as an equal partner, but was turned down.

"It is clear that unity requires compromise," said Netanyahu, who was invited by Israeli President Shimon Peres to form a government, despite Livni's centrist Kadima party winning one more seat in this month's general election.

"I was prepared to go a very long way toward achieving unity."

For her party, Livni,  who served as Israel's foreign minister under the previous government of outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert, insisted the differences between the two parties following the talks were still too great to overcome.  

"The meeting ended without agreement on issues that I believe to be fundamental for joining this government," she said.

Split over peace negotiations

Among the issues dividing the two leaders, Livni and Netanyahu have differed greatly in what direction they believe Israel should take in peace talks with the Palestinians.

Livni has called upon Netanyahu to announce his support for a two-state solution and the timeframe for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations reached in 2007 at a U.S.-sponsored conference in Annapolis, Md.

"Two states for two peoples is not an empty slogan — it is the only way Israel can keep its existence as a Jewish, democratic state," Livni said after their meeting.

"Just as I cannot accept vague statements, neither can the world. This is a matter of principle, not semantics."

The U.S.-educated Netanyahu has campaigned against any territorial concessions to the Palestinians and has dismissed the latest round of U.S.-backed negotiations as a waste of time. He said he plans to promote Palestinian economic prosperity instead of statehood.

The Feb. 10 election gave 28 seats in the 120-member Knesset to Kadima, while the conservative Likud won 27 seats. Avigdor Lieberman's ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beteinu party had a strong showing, gaining four seats to finish with 15 seats.

But ultra-Orthodox parties have in the past refused to sit with secular parties such as Lieberman's Yisrael Beteinu, which calls for reforms in Israel's civilian marriage laws.

Lieberman, a potential kingmaker, is even less inclined to support a two-state solution. His party calls for redrawing Israel's borders in a way that would transfer areas with large Arab concentrations into Palestinian jurisdiction.