BICOM

The leaders of the three major centrist parties met late last night in an effort to form a united front ahead of this month’s election and to try to coordinate a joint position in the likely event that Prime Minister Netanyahu will be asked to form the next government.

Labour Party leader Shelly Yachimovich, Hatnuah head Tzipi Livni and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid met at an undisclosed location and then released a joint statement which indicated that no concrete agreement had been reached, saying, “There was a good atmosphere at the meeting…We discussed the dangers inherent in a radical government. We agreed to return and talk further whenever necessary.”

The meeting was prompted by Livni’s appearance on live television on Friday during which she called to meet the other two leaders, which they accepted via text message to Livni during the broadcast. The talks appeared to address how the three centrist parties can work more closely ahead of the election and whether they can act as one united bloc if approached to join a Netanyahu-led government. Netanyahu’s Likud-Beitenu list looks almost certain to win the largest number of seats in this month’s election and therefore is likely to be tasked with forming a coalition.

Last week, Yachimovich pledged that her Labour Party would not join such a government. However, Lapid suggested to the other two leaders ahead of yesterday’s meeting that “we should join it [a Netanyahu-led coalition] together so it will not be a government composed of ultra-Orthodox and extreme right-wingers.”