Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Tuesday that he'll seek to form a coalition with the center-left Labor Party, an alliance that would boost his plan to withdraw from much of the West Bank and draw Israel's final borders by 2010.
The announcement came after a meeting between Olmert, head of the centrist Kadima Party, and Labor's chief, Amir Peretz. The meeting signaled the end of a rift between Olmert and Peretz that began after last week's national election.
Olmert said he had held talks with Peretz in the past two days.
With Peretz standing next to him during a news conference, Olmert said: ‘We are happy to announce that immediately after the president gives me the mission of putting together a government, we will open coalition talks that will allow us to form a government in which the Labor Party will be a senior member.’
In last week's election, Kadima emerged as the largest party in parliament with 29 out of 120 seats, followed by Labor with 19 seats.
Under Israel's electoral system, the leader of the largest party is traditionally asked by Israel's president to try to form a coalition government. However, Labor initially recommended to the president that its leader, Peretz, be asked to form the government. It was not clear whether this was an attempt by Labor to pressure Olmert in coalition talks. Peretz, an ex-union boss, wants to become finance minister, a demand Olmert is loathe to meet.
Tuesday's joint news conference signaled an end to the rift.