Israel: Livni's Kudos in Balance as she Fails to Form a New Government

By Jeff Abramowitz, dpa= Tel Aviv (dpa) - Israel Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni failed in her attempt to form a new government, and now she and her Kadima party head into an election campaign with her image as the white knight of Israeli politics badly tarnished.

Five days after she narrowly won the Kadima leadership in a bitter contest on September 17, Livni was tasked by President Shimon Peres with forming a new government to replace that of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who resigned his post because of a host of investigations against him for alleged corruption.

At first she appeared confident that she could form a government in the 28 days alloted her, but it quickly appeared she could not, and last week she asked for, and received, a 14-day extension from Peres.

But on Friday it became clear that the extension would not be needed, since the ultra-Orthodox Shas party - a crucial component in any coalition she tried to form - announced it would not be joining a Livni-led government since she had refused to accept the party's demands.

Another, smaller ultra-Orthodox party, United Torah Judaism, made a similar announcement on Saturday night, causing Livni to tell associates that she was "sick" of what she saw as the extortion of the two parties.

Although Livni tried to present her refusal to accept Shas' demand for a significant increase in child welfare payments, and to refuse to negotiate the future of Jerusalem with the Palestinians, as an example of standing firm and of "new politics", her image among potential supporters as Israel's latest political saviour has taken a hit.