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On Israel's political battlefield, a female contender rises
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has emerged as an unlikely rival to embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
from the May 7, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
She has supported moving up talks on a final peace treaty with the Palestinians despite Israel's more conservative position ruling out negotiations as long as Palestinian militants can act at will.
Along with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Livni promoted talks about the so-called "political horizon," an effort to tackle, early on, deal-breaker issues like a right of return for Palestinian refugees. The two are known for their close rapport and have even been said to share the same talking points.
"Up until now, Palestinians have talked about their independence, and Israel has talked about its security," said an Israeli official who has worked with Livni at the foreign ministry. "Tzipi has said, 'No, we accept the principle of a Palestinian state; let's talk about what that means.' That's taking the dialogue a step further."
Her relatively dovish position on peace talks reflects the gradual recognition among some on the Israeli right that significant territorial concessions to the Palestinians would be a necessity for peace.
The daughter of a Likud parliamentarian and former right-wing underground member, Livni was appointed to be Israel's privatization czar in 1996 and then was elected to the legislature on the Likud slate in 1999. Loyal to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, she backed his withdrawal from Gaza and followed his lead in bolting Likud to form the centrist Kadima Party.
When Mr. Sharon fell into a coma last year, she backed Olmert as prime minister and was named deputy prime minister after Kadima emerged victorious. But considerable speculation emerged about the tension between the two after the war.
In the wake of the Winograd report, Livni found herself the focus of swirling rumors that she planned to lead a movement inside of Kadima against Olmert. If successful, she would become the first woman to lead Israel since Golda Meir was prime minister in the early 1970s.
But at a press conference at the foreign ministry Wednesday, after tripping on the way to the podium, she then faltered politically.
For the first time, the politician known for her straight talking sounded muddled, explaining that she would remain as Olmert's deputy even though she believed he should resign. And overnight, she turned from the golden girl of Israel politics to an object of media ridicule.
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