It is striking how irrelevant Tzipi Livni and Kadima have become in the short span since the last election. From a position of having gained the most votes, Kadima has relegated itself to the Israel political sidelines through the increasingly leftist pronouncements of its leader, Tzipi Livni.
Yesterday, Livni was at it again. Bizarrely, she suggested that new elections in Israel would “stop the world in its tracks” from unilaterally declaring a Palestinian state at the U.N. in September. Why you ask? Because Kadima would win and she would become Prime Minister. Talk about being self-consumed–just the idea that the support that the Palestinians have been drumming up for their declaration would vanish overnight if only she were Prime Minister borders on the delusional. Not to mention the fact that if elections were held, Netanyahu’s coalition would grow stronger.
Livni went on to say that Israel should agree to peace talks with the new Palestinian reconciliation government with the “only” caveat being that the Palestinian government recognize Israel’s right to exist, renounce violence, and respect previously signed treaties–all points that Hamas has stridently rejected in the past week. Again, to most Israelis, Livni sounds increasingly delusional.
More than this Livni said that Netanyahu must make “painful concessions” to the Palestinians to get negotiations moving again, in advance of the September vote. Does this sound familiar? It should–it is what the rest of the world always demands of Israel. Painful concessions from Israel in exchange for nothing.
To repeat what I have said in previous blogs, the Palestinians have never conceded anything–and why should they? They get what they want by rejecting everything and by the world helping them overcome any Israeli pressure to negotiate. Just yesterday, the European Union announced that it would step in to give the Palestinians tax monies (85 million Euros) being withheld by Israel because of Hamas now being part of the Palestinian government.
This is what Livni and Kadima now mean to Israelis–a person and party that will ‘negotiate’ with Palestinians–in other words, give them everything they want with nothing in return. If Kadima wants to remain a viable party in Israeli politics, it needs new leadership that recognizes the realities on the ground–and policies that support Israelis not Palestinians.
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Do you know the composition of the current Israeli Knesset?
Parties in Netanyahu’s Coalition:
Likud (27), Yisrael Beiteinu (15), Shas (11), Labor*(8), United Torah Judaism (5), Independence (5), National Union (4), The Jewish Home (3)
Parties not in the coalition:
Kadima (28), Hadash-Arab (4), United Arab List (4) , New Movement-Meretz (3 ), Balad-Arab (3)
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.