News Brief

Labor would be the senior partner in a new government, according to a draft coalition agreement reportedly sent on by Kadima.

Associates of Prime Minister-designate Tzipi Livni reportedly passed the draft agreement Sunday to the Labor Party.

Israeli media are reporting that the agreement will serve as the basis for continuing talks between the ruling Kadima and Labor. A deal between the two parties is expected soon.

According to Ynet, the agreement would make Labor the senior partner in the new government, with its chairman, Ehud Barak, serving as a senior deputy prime minister and playing a significant role in negotiations with Syria.

Livni has until Oct. 20 to form a new coalition government, although she can ask President Shimon Peres for a two-week extension.

The car of a Jewish resident was torched as violence continued for a fifth day in the mixed Jewish-Arab Israeli city of Acre. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in his weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday “instructed the police to show zero tolerance and bring about a cessation of the violence” in the northern city of 53,000.

The riots started on Yom Kippur eve, Oct. 8, when an Arab man drove through the Jewish sector of the city and was confronted by Jewish youths who said he was deliberately desecrating the holiday by driving, smoking and playing loud music. The ensuing riots between Jewish and Arab youths have resulted in extensive damage to property in Acre. A large police presence continues to patrol the city’s Arab and Jewish sectors. On Saturday three Arab-owned homes were torched, making a total of 12 since the riots began. At least 54 people have been arrested since Oct. 8. Water cannons have been used to disperse the rioters. Also on Saturday night, Arab leaders in Acre agreed to issue an announcement condemning the Arab driver whose actions touched off the riots. Meanwhile, an Acre theater festival scheduled for this week, which brings in thousands of visitors from outside the city, has been postponed. The festival provides an economic boon for city merchants, particularly Arab ones. Other mixed Jewish-Arab cities in Israel, including Jaffa, Jerusalem and Haifa, are on alert for disturbances.