Netanyahu wins backing in Israeli PM contest

Benjamin Netanyahu's chances of becoming Israel's prime minister improved today after he won the conditional backing of a kingpin politician who heads a far-right party.

Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, recommended to President Shimon Peres that he tap Netanyahu to form a government, on condition the right-wing Likud chief pursued a broad coalition. Netanyahu has said he would do so.

Peres could announce as early as tomorrow, after wrapping up consultations with party leaders, whether he will ask Netanyahu or centrist Kadima chief Tzipi Livni to put together a governing coalition.

Both laid claim to the premiership after Kadima won 28 seats in the 120-member parliament to Likud's 27 in an inconclusive 10 February election that deepened uncertainty about future peace moves with the Palestinians.

With Lieberman's support, Netanyahu has the backing of some 65 legislators, enough for a narrow, governing majority of right-wing and Jewish religious parties.

A leading Kadima legislator, Tzachi Hanegbi, played down prospects it would join a Netanyahu-led coalition.

"A government under Netanyahu will be formed in Israel in the coming weeks. It will include 65 supporters. Kadima is on its way to lead the opposition. That's the story," Hanegbi told Israel Radio.

Lieberman, an immigrant from the former Soviet Union who has been at odds with religious parties and is reviled by Israel's Arab community, made unity the theme of his remarks to Peres.

"We recommend Benjamin Netanyahu, only in the framework of a broad government," Lieberman told reporters.

"We want a government of the three biggest parties, Likud, Kadima and Yisrael Beiteinu," he said, without disclosing what he would do if a unity government proved impossible to achieve.

A Yisrael Beiteinu official said Lieberman sought a broad coalition out of concern that creation of a narrow, rightist government could lead to friction with the Obama administration, which has pledged to pursue Palestinian statehood.

Livni, asked by reporters about Lieberman's call, appeared to be cool to serving in a Likud-led government but did not explicitly rule it out.

"Politics is not just about numbers, but policy. I do not intend to be a fig leaf for political paralysis," she said.

Kadima backs Palestinian statehood and has said it would be willing to relinquish parts of the occupied West Bank in exchange for peace, a position that would put it in conflict with Yisrael Beiteinu and Likud.

A Kadima spokeswoman said Livni's comments meant she would not join a government headed by Netanyahu unless policy guidelines allowed for continued peace talks on a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

Yisrael Beiteinu, which won 15 seats in last week's poll, has angered Israel's Arab citizens by proposing a law under which Israelis would have to pledge allegiance to the Jewish state as a condition for voting or holding office.

The party also wants to trade land inside Israel in which many of the country's 1.5 million Arabs live for Jewish West Bank settlements in any peace deal with the Palestinians.

Under Israeli law, the legislator designated by Peres to try to form a government has 42 days to complete the task. Traditionally, after an election, past presidents have picked the leader of the party that won the most votes, but there is no legal obligation to do so.