Tzipi Livni on Monday announced that, after trying to force incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a unity government that followed her policies, her Kadima Party is heading for the opposition, after all.
Livni rebuffed an early unity government offer by Netanyahu shortly after the February general election, and insisted she would head the opposition.
But last week Livni did an about-face, and said she was ready to be part of a Netanyahu-led government, if the Likud leader openly declared his intention to push for the creation of a Palestinian state, and committed to that path by giving Livni free rein over Israel's foreign affairs.
On Monday, Likud finalized the details of its coalition deal with the Knesset's third largest faction, Israel Beiteinu, and Livni was displeased that it made no mention of a Palestinian state.
Hours later, she told party colleagues that it is impossible for Kadima to join a government that does not make the creation of a Palestinian Arab state its top priority.