Livni, Lapid Urged To Leave Israeli Coalition Govt

Israeli opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog has called on the finance and justice ministers to leave Israel's coalition government, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of putting Israel's interests at risk.



"I call on [Justice Minister Tzipi] Livni and [Finance Minister Yair] Lapid and their parties to join us in changing the face of the country," Herzog said during a Labor Party meeting on Monday.



"You can still repair the damage – leave the government as soon as possible," he added.



Herzog said Netanyahu had failed on the economic and security levels, and also in terms of the peace process with the Palestinians.



On Monday, Israel's coalition government agreed to postpone a scheduled vote on a controversial bill that would enshrine Israel's status as the "state of the Jewish people" in Israeli law.



Israel's self-proclaimed status as "Jewish state" has been a point of contention in recent U.S.-mediated peace talks with the Palestinians.



Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly stressed his refusal to acknowledge Israel as a "Jewish state."



Palestinians fear that identifying Israel as such would cancel the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historical Palestine.



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