The alliance between Israel’s Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu parties – which will see the two center-right parties running on a joint list in the January 22 election and which was overwhelmingly approved by the Likud Central Committee last night – has sent other Israeli parties and politicians rushing to respond. Former Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni is seeking to form a center-left bloc to counter the move. Sources indicated that Livni is reaching out to a number of prominent Israeli politicians, including current Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz, current Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and Dan Meridor of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s own Likud party. Such a deal might be attractive to Barak, whose Independence Party is not currently projected to win enough votes for him to return to Israel’s Knesset, though there are scenarios under which he would remain defense minister in another government widely expected to be led by Netanyahu.