Taking a cue from the British government, Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni on Monday formed a “shadow cabinet” to provide firm alternatives to the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Israeli media noted the irony in Livni putting together an official “opposition government” just seven months after she was given the opportunity and failed to form a government following the ouster of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Livni’s inability to put together a government at that time resulted in early elections and Netanyahu’s return to power.
Livni’s shadow government will also lose a lot of credibility to the fact that her main left-wing coalition partner, Labor, is part of Netanyahu’s government.