Livni changes Olmerts text by cabinet meeting and vows not to sit in a Likud Government

(Reuters) - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni wrote in a private note captured by cameras on Sunday that her centrist Kadima party would not join any coalition government headed by right-wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

The note, which Livni handed to outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Kadima at the weekly cabinet meeting, set the battle lines in what could be weeks of political bargaining after Israel's inconclusive election last Tuesday.

"I have no intention of being in a unity government headed by Bibi -- and don't hint that," Livni, using Netanyahu's nickname, said in the note chiding Olmert, who was reported to have urged her to join a broad Likud-led coalition.

Television cameras are allowed to film the start of Israeli cabinet meetings, and they caught Livni writing the note. Its text could be read clearly when the paper was shown on TV news programs.

Later, in broadcast remarks to Kadima legislators, Livni said the party deserved to lead Israel, but left open the possibility it would go into opposition.

"You don't have to be a mathematical genius to understand that 28 seats are more than 27,We will continue to serve the public, either by forming the government, as the public chose, or if need be, in the opposition," Livni said.