Israeli right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu and centrist Tzipi Livni met on Friday but failed to agree on forming a coalition government and left it unclear whether negotiations between their parties would continue. After meeting for over an hour in Tel Aviv, each came out and blamed the other for lacking the will to compromise and form a broad-based, national unity government. Livni indicated her disappointment with Netanyahu's skeptical approach to peace talks with the Palestinians, which she has led since 2007. However, neither of them ruled out further coalition negotiations.
"I have done everything possible to achieve unity ... but to my great regret, I faced categorical rejection from Mrs Livni," Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing Likud party said.