A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman

March 2, 2009--Kadima Ends Any Talks With Likud. Donor Nations Meet About Gaza

Any chance of Kadima entering the coalition ended today when the faction met and voted unanimously that the condition did not exist to enter into negotiations with Likud. The only person to speak up against that position was Minister of Transportation Shaul Mofaz. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Kadima head Tzpi Livni's election victory may not have given her the Prime Ministership but it has given her complete control over Kadima, with its members fully deferring to her. On the other hand, Minister of Defense Ehud Barak seems to be trying all he can to get the Labor party to join the coalition so he can remain in the position. This is despite the fact that the members of the Labor party are all opposed to joining the coalition.

The donor meeting was held in Sharm-el Sheik today. It was by all accounts a very impressive get together, with 71 Heads of State attending. They pledged a total of over $4 billion for the rebuilding of Gaza. The money will go to Abbas and not to Hamas. This will hopefully strengthen Abbas and force Hamas to enter into a coalition agreement on terms that are acceptable to him. The question is how that is supposed to happen?