Coalition Shenanigans

NRP-National Union recommend Peretz as PM. It looks like the Labor Party is mounting a serious challenge to Kadima. A number of parties might be recommending that Katsav appoint Peretz as the person to form the next government, rather than Olmert. The Labor Party had previously declared its opposition to sitting in the same government as Yisrael Beitenu, but apparently the NRP-NU is okay. Rather sophistic. Well, are they serious? The right-wing parties have suddenly discovered social policy, and are in favor of supporting the "social bloc" advocated by Labor. To me, this seems like a rather opportunistic attempt to block an Olmert government which is more likely to deliver a 2nd disengagement (or as Olmert calls it, "convergence") than a weak Labor-led coalition. Also, I really wonder if Meretz would join a coalition consisting of Labor, the NRP-NU, United Torah Judaism, and Shas among others. Maybe Peretz is simply trying to increase his bargaining position. I read an interesting column by Gideon Levy that Peretz should embrace the Defense portfolio, instead of fighting to get the finance ministry:

If Amir Peretz really wants to generate change, he must demand one portfolio for himself: the defense portfolio. If there is one appointment in the new government that could fire the imagination and herald a societal turning point, it would be this. If the chairman of the Labor Party wants to become a statesman and perhaps also the next leader of Israel, his path must now take him to the Defense Ministry.