Netanyahu in coalition with rival Once were enemies ... A worker walks next to a rotating sign showing former Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni, left, and Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv in 2009. Now Netanyahu is bringing Livni, who leads the Hatnua Party, into his pending coalition government. JERUSALEM: The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced a deal on Tuesday night to bring his erstwhile foe Tzipi Livni, the head of the centrist Hatnua Party, into his pending coalition government. Ms Livni, a former foreign minister who ran against Mr Netanyahu in 2009 and served as opposition leader for much of the past four years, would become the justice minister under the plan, both leaders said. In return, she would deliver the six Knesset seats her party won in last month's election to Mr Netanyahu's proposed coalition. Ms Livni would also serve as the head of a new ministerial committee to be created to lead Palestinian peace talks - if they are resumed. Acknowledging her past conflicts with Mr Netanyahu, Ms Livni said: "Since the election we have had quiet and serious talks, and we understand this [rivalry] must be put aside." Her support gives Mr Netanyahu 37 of the 61 seats he needs to form a Knesset majority, but further progress is proving difficult because the two big election winners - centrist Yesh Atid, with 19 seats, and the religious-nationalist Jewish Home, with 12 seats - have formed an alliance. They want Mr Netanyahu to clarify the goals of his next government on restarting peace talks and drafting ultra-Orthodox students into the army. The leaders of the two parties said they wanted written commitments from Mr Netanyahu.