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Tzipi Livni's Challenge
April 4, 2013
Among those of us seeking a two-state solution, Israel's newest government does not inspire confidence. Jewish Home, the pro-settler party of Naftali Bennett, is ensconced in the government, and Bennett's party now controls key ministries, like the Construction Ministry, which cater to settlers' needs. This does not bode well for resuming peace talks with the Palestinians--if Bennett has his way, that is. Only Tzipi Livni, who joined the coalition based on a promise that it would negotiate with the Palestinians, is forcefully advocating for moving towards a two-state solution. If she is to have any success, she will need Netanyahu's support. But with his track record of temporizing and delay, there is not much confidence there. He will need to be convinced by circumstance, such as Israel's increased international isolation or US arm-twisting, that moving forward with negotiations with the Palestinians is in Israel's interests.
Before writing off this government, let’s consider how Livni might prevail. At the new government’s swearing-in at the Knesset she spoke heart-felt words to a reporter, saying that it will be “very difficult” to energize negotiations with the Palestinians, but she’s going to do her best.
She may find an ally in Bibi’s wife Sara Netanyahu, who detests Bennett from the days when he served as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff. When the government was being formed, Sara demanded that her husband deny Bennett the post of Vice-Premier. Netanyahu listened to his wife; he can do so again.
Livni is the only female member of the new “security cabinet.” Imagine her there, sitting in a smoke-filled room with all the men and trying to promote her policies. How can she prevail over Bennett and his like-minded cronies? She will need all the cunning of Queen Esther.
Bennett is a hard-liner who says he opposes any gestures to woo the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. Sitting in that smoke-filled room, he is among friends. President Obama came and delivered a good speech about the ideals of peace, but he has been wont to back away from any real arm-wrestling. Is it any wonder that the Palestinians of Bethlehem burned posters of him in disgust?
How can Livni use her feminine wiles so she will not have to back down when Bennett tries to push her into a corner? She cannot win by confronting him directly. Nevertheless, there is a way to manage Bennett. He is a small-minded man who is committed only to defending the insular settler community. Livni, in contrast, is dealing with the Palestinians, an issue that impacts the entire world. Therefore, her strategy should be to go global.
Livni should travel the world, from Norway to Vermont, from Argentina to the Vatican. She should meet the new Pope and ask him to call on all Catholics to pray for a cessation of settlements. What will happen when the newspapers have headlines like, “Pontiff says Obama must strong-arm Israel on Settlements”? Catholic Europe will stir with protests, and even the staid Northern Europeans will be aroused to action.
With hard work and a strategy that makes use of international leverage, Livni might just be able to outsmart Bennett and win the day. Once Netanyahu recognizes that he cannot avoid international pressure to resume negotiations with the Palestinians, he will oblige Livni by enacting a settlement freeze. It doesn’t matter whether Bennett and his people leave the government; Labor Party leader Shelley Yachimovich declared that she is ready to step in the breach. Addressing Netanyahu at the Knesset, she said, “If you get even to an interim agreement… I promise you, what I said to you face-to-face... we will join your government in order to see through such a move.”
Given this less than ideal outcome, the key to renewing the peace process must be international pressure on Netanyahu. He must be convinced that he has to back Livni to pursue meaningful negotiations with the Palestinians, even to the point of a settlement freeze over Bennett’s objections. Yet neither Europe nor the United States have as of yet mustered the will to act.
Over the past three years the Americans have shown particular weakness, having been preoccupied with the politics of the Jewish vote. Rather than leaning hard on Israel as well as the Palestinians to come to the peace table, the United States ended up suffering the embarrassment of being on the losing end of a 138-9 vote on Palestinian statehood at the UN last November.
We would hope that the United States understands by now that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is of supreme importance to its national interest. It will do more to pacify the Arab world than any further Iraq-style wars. It will do more to end the Iranian nuclear threat than fifty air strikes against its nuclear facilities. And it will do more to end the threat of terrorism than 5,000 drone strikes.
Will President Obama as the leader of the West, hold Netanyahu's feet to the fire in the coming months? Will he back up Secretary of State Kerry who will be pressing for confidence-building measures, like a prisoner release and a settlement freeze? Yet regardless of what the Americans say or do, in the final analysis it is still up to Israel to take the substantive actions that can re-energize the peace process.
We had hoped in vain that Israel would form a government that would be inclined to give the Palestinians their state on the West Bank because it understood that ending the occupation will open the path to a new era of peace and security. Instead, we see that the Israelis are too preoccupied with their domestic problems to recognize the larger picture—the impact of the occupation on their standing in the world and on the long-suffering Palestinians themselves. Bennett and his cronies remain blind to the danger of the occupation, which erodes Israel's security position with each passing day. Only Tzipi Livni understands what is at stake. In this situation, she must work with the international community to create a partnership that will press for real change.
Among those of us seeking a two-state solution, Israel's newest government does not inspire confidence. Jewish Home, the pro-settler party of Naftali Bennett, is ensconced in the government, and Bennett's party now controls key ministries, like the Construction Ministry, which cater to settlers' needs. This does not bode well for resuming peace talks with the Palestinians--if Bennett has his way, that is. Only Tzipi Livni, who joined the coalition based on a promise that it would negotiate with the Palestinians, is forcefully advocating for moving towards a two-state solution. If she is to have any success, she will need Netanyahu's support. But with his track record of temporizing and delay, there is not much confidence there. He will need to be convinced by circumstance, such as Israel's increased international isolation or US arm-twisting, that moving forward with negotiations with the Palestinians is in Israel's interests.
Before writing off this government, let’s consider how Livni might prevail. At the new government’s swearing-in at the Knesset she spoke heart-felt words to a reporter, saying that it will be “very difficult” to energize negotiations with the Palestinians, but she’s going to do her best.
She may find an ally in Bibi’s wife Sara Netanyahu, who detests Bennett from the days when he served as the Prime Minister’s chief of staff. When the government was being formed, Sara demanded that her husband deny Bennett the post of Vice-Premier. Netanyahu listened to his wife; he can do so again.
Livni is the only female member of the new “security cabinet.” Imagine her there, sitting in a smoke-filled room with all the men and trying to promote her policies. How can she prevail over Bennett and his like-minded cronies? She will need all the cunning of Queen Esther.
Bennett is a hard-liner who says he opposes any gestures to woo the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. Sitting in that smoke-filled room, he is among friends. President Obama came and delivered a good speech about the ideals of peace, but he has been wont to back away from any real arm-wrestling. Is it any wonder that the Palestinians of Bethlehem burned posters of him in disgust?
How can Livni use her feminine wiles so she will not have to back down when Bennett tries to push her into a corner? She cannot win by confronting him directly. Nevertheless, there is a way to manage Bennett. He is a small-minded man who is committed only to defending the insular settler community. Livni, in contrast, is dealing with the Palestinians, an issue that impacts the entire world. Therefore, her strategy should be to go global.
Livni should travel the world, from Norway to Vermont, from Argentina to the Vatican. She should meet the new Pope and ask him to call on all Catholics to pray for a cessation of settlements. What will happen when the newspapers have headlines like, “Pontiff says Obama must strong-arm Israel on Settlements”? Catholic Europe will stir with protests, and even the staid Northern Europeans will be aroused to action.
With hard work and a strategy that makes use of international leverage, Livni might just be able to outsmart Bennett and win the day. Once Netanyahu recognizes that he cannot avoid international pressure to resume negotiations with the Palestinians, he will oblige Livni by enacting a settlement freeze. It doesn’t matter whether Bennett and his people leave the government; Labor Party leader Shelley Yachimovich declared that she is ready to step in the breach. Addressing Netanyahu at the Knesset, she said, “If you get even to an interim agreement… I promise you, what I said to you face-to-face... we will join your government in order to see through such a move.”
Given this less than ideal outcome, the key to renewing the peace process must be international pressure on Netanyahu. He must be convinced that he has to back Livni to pursue meaningful negotiations with the Palestinians, even to the point of a settlement freeze over Bennett’s objections. Yet neither Europe nor the United States have as of yet mustered the will to act.
Over the past three years the Americans have shown particular weakness, having been preoccupied with the politics of the Jewish vote. Rather than leaning hard on Israel as well as the Palestinians to come to the peace table, the United States ended up suffering the embarrassment of being on the losing end of a 138-9 vote on Palestinian statehood at the UN last November.
We would hope that the United States understands by now that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is of supreme importance to its national interest. It will do more to pacify the Arab world than any further Iraq-style wars. It will do more to end the Iranian nuclear threat than fifty air strikes against its nuclear facilities. And it will do more to end the threat of terrorism than 5,000 drone strikes.
Will President Obama as the leader of the West, hold Netanyahu's feet to the fire in the coming months? Will he back up Secretary of State Kerry who will be pressing for confidence-building measures, like a prisoner release and a settlement freeze? Yet regardless of what the Americans say or do, in the final analysis it is still up to Israel to take the substantive actions that can re-energize the peace process.
We had hoped in vain that Israel would form a government that would be inclined to give the Palestinians their state on the West Bank because it understood that ending the occupation will open the path to a new era of peace and security. Instead, we see that the Israelis are too preoccupied with their domestic problems to recognize the larger picture—the impact of the occupation on their standing in the world and on the long-suffering Palestinians themselves. Bennett and his cronies remain blind to the danger of the occupation, which erodes Israel's security position with each passing day. Only Tzipi Livni understands what is at stake. In this situation, she must work with the international community to create a partnership that will press for real change.
