MK Ofir Pines, who is the chief spokesman for the Labor Party election campaign, on Tuesday, stated if Likud leads the next government, and takes Yisrael Beitenu as a coalition partner, Labor will not join such a government.
�
Party leader Ehud Barak was quick to respond, stating at this stage, he is not ruling out any coalition possibilities, pushing Pines� statement aside. One �senior party official� quoted anonymously in the daily Yisrael HaYom stated, �It was Pines who left the government, not the Labor Party�.
�
The statement refers to the fact that when Yisrael Beitenu joined the Kadima coalition government, Pines resigned his cabinet post, stating he cannot remain in a government with Lieberman who Pines feels is a �threat to Israel�s future as a democratic government�.
�
Further complicating the Labor leader�s position are other party MKs like Shelly Yacimovitz and Eitan Cabel, who do not see a possibility of entering a government coalition headed by Binyamin Netanyahu.
�
What is certain however is that Barak is not about to rule out any options at present, feeling a bit more confident with less than two weeks to the election. Operation Cast Lead boosted his standing in the polls and he now has a chance of landing a cabinet post in a future government, something that was highly unlikely before Israel launched the counter-terrorism military offensive.
(Yechiel Spira � YWN Israel)
