Livni forgoes rotating premiership with Herzog

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http://www.timesofisrael.com/livni-forgoes-premiership-rotation-with-herzog/

The Zionist Union’s Tzipi Livni announced Monday evening that she would give up the rotation of the premiership with the slate’s leader, Isaac Herzog, an agreement the two made months ago when her Hatnua party merged with his Labor Party.

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In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the party was “panicking,” while Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett said the move indicated the Zionist Union was planning to form a unity government with Netanyahu’s Likud. That claim was subsequently rejected by Herzog as “claptrap.”

The bombshell came 12 hours before polling stations were set to open, in an apparent last-ditch effort to garner additional votes.

Livni said the rotation agreement ought not interfere with her party’s main task: replacing Netanyahu’s Likud party.

In a response to the announcement, Netanyahu told Channel 2 that the decision reflected the Zionist Union’s “panic” — an accusation echoed by Herzog, who in turn said Netanyahu was the one “panicking.”

Netanyahu told the TV station that the move proved two things: “One, that they’re lying. Either they lied earlier [when they announced the rotation], or they’re lying now. And the second thing is that they can’t deal with any pressure. They can’t deal with the pressure of the polls, how will they be able to deal with international pressure?”