Peres taps Livni to build new government

President Shimon Peres on Monday evening formally invited Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to form a new government, making the expected announcement after consulting with all of Israel's political factions.

If she is successful in recruiting the required majority of 61 MKs, she will become Israel's first female premier since 1974.

Even before President Shimon Peres gave her the official title of prime minister-designate on Monday evening, Livni was already conducting intensive talks with party leaders over their terms to join a coalition.

After Peres handed her the folder with the official appointment, she said, I agree to take upon myself the role of forming a government, but only when Peres prompted her that she needed to accept the task.

In the minute-long ceremony at the president's residence, Livni, dressed formally in black and sitting in an armchair across from Peres, did not comment on policy issues.

Later the two read statements to reporters. Livni noted, "These are not normal days for Israel. There are great diplomatic and economic challenges facing it." She appealed to the parties in Olmert's government to continue under her leadership, and to other parties to join, including the hardline Likud Party, led by ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu.

"The first priority that is right for Israel is a government that will serve to the end of the current term, in late 2010," she said.

Netanyahu has rejected the idea of a broad national unity government with Livni, preferring elections. Polls predict that Netanyahu would win general elections if they were held today.

As leader of the largest party in the Knesset, Livni was the automatic choice to succeed Olmert, who resigned Sunday because of a string of corruption allegations. Last week Livni won a primary election to replace Olmert as head of their Kadima Party, which has 29 seats in the parliament.

Peres compressed the allotted week of party consultations into less than a day an a half before appointing Livni. Peres was leaving later Monday for New York, where he is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

Olmert's coalition, which serves as a transition government until the parliament approves a new one, represents 64 out of the 120 seats in the parliament. Livni's most apparent option would be to recreate the same coalition of her Kadima Party, Defense Minister Ehud Barak's Labor, with 19 seats, the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas with 12 and the Pensioners Party with four.

However, Shas or Labor may decide that their interests are better served in a snap election, though polls indicate that could be a dangerous choice, especially for Labor, which could lose strength.

If Livni fails to set up a coalition that can win parliamentary approval, Israel would hold an election within 90 days. Then the work of hammering together a coalition government would start over, stretching well into next year.

Earlier Sunday, attorney Zion Amir, who represents petitioners appealing the results of last Wednesday's Kadima Party primary election, sent a letter to Peres on Monday asking him to postpone naming Livni as the candidate to establish a government.

Amir said that he had submitted an appeal to the court tasked with arbitrating Kadima Party legal matters, and asked for a temporary injunction ordering the reversal of Livni's very close victory over rival Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, by a margin of several hundreds of votes.

In the letter, Amir asked Peres to delay his decision until after the court makes a final ruling on the matter.