Shelly Paz
Declaring that she had exhausted all alternatives, Kadima leader Tzipi Livni on Sunday handed back the mandate President Shimon Peres gave her last month to form a government.
During their meeting at Beit Hanassi, Livni informed Peres of her decision: General elections as soon as possible.
According to the Basic Law: Government, the president now begins a process that will likely lead to elections being set for Tuesday,
"Since I was appointed to form a government, I made it clear that I would look into all options to form a stable government before deciding on going to general elections," Livni told reporters following her meeting with Peres.
"I have exhausted the process. I could have stood here today and presented a government. I was willing to pay a certain price to form a government, but I wasn't willing to mortgage the economic and the political future of the State of Israel and sacrifice the hope for a better future and different politics."
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