This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/7960599.stm
The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Barak 'agrees to Likud coalition' | Barak 'agrees to Likud coalition' |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Israel's Labour leader Ehud Barak has reached a provisional deal with PM-designate Benjamin Netanyahu on forming a coalition, Israeli army radio says. | Israel's Labour leader Ehud Barak has reached a provisional deal with PM-designate Benjamin Netanyahu on forming a coalition, Israeli army radio says. |
| The centre-left Labour party is divided over whether to join a government with Mr Netanyahu's Likud and will vote on the agreement shortly. | The centre-left Labour party is divided over whether to join a government with Mr Netanyahu's Likud and will vote on the agreement shortly. |
| The right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu and Orthodox Jewish Shas parties have already agreed to join a coalition. | The right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu and Orthodox Jewish Shas parties have already agreed to join a coalition. |
| The moderate Kadima party has so far refused to join. | The moderate Kadima party has so far refused to join. |
| Mr Netanyahu has a deadline of 3 April to build his coalition government. | Mr Netanyahu has a deadline of 3 April to build his coalition government. |
| Mr Barak is defence minister in the current government and would retain the post in the next government, Israeli army radio reported. | Mr Barak is defence minister in the current government and would retain the post in the next government, Israeli army radio reported. |
| The draft agreement would also commit a Netanyahu government to continuing negotiations with the Palestinians and to respecting previous deals made with them. | The draft agreement would also commit a Netanyahu government to continuing negotiations with the Palestinians and to respecting previous deals made with them. |
| With Labour's support, Mr Netanyahu would have 66 seats in the 120-member Knesset, or parliament. | With Labour's support, Mr Netanyahu would have 66 seats in the 120-member Knesset, or parliament. |
| The Labour party, including its 13 Knesset members, is divided over whether to join a Netanyahu coalition. | The Labour party, including its 13 Knesset members, is divided over whether to join a Netanyahu coalition. |
| Mr Netanyahu has previously refused to sign up to the two-state formula which has underpinned more than 15 years of Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. | Mr Netanyahu has previously refused to sign up to the two-state formula which has underpinned more than 15 years of Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. |
| Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's Kadima party finished narrowly ahead of Likud in the election held on 10 February, gaining 28 seats to Likud's 27, but President Shimon Peres called on Mr Netanyahu first to try to form a government. | |
| If Mr Netanyahu manages to form a coalition, analysts say it will mark a significant political comeback for the politician, who was prime minister in the 1990s. |