Playing hard to get
Tzipi Livni, with 28 Kadima seats in the new Knesset that was sworn in today, is playing hard to get. Even though Bibi Netanyahu sincerely wants her to join a National Unity Government with him, and Pres. Peres has asked all politicians to put aside personal and party interests for the national interest, Livni is still saying "no." She would agree to a joint Government, where she gets to be PM for half the time, but Bibi correctly said that is unworkable. Bibi wants to avoid what happened to him last time he was PM, namely becoming a hostage to the small right-wing and religious parties upon whom his coalition would depend unless he can entice Livni to join him. But, on the other hand he cannot afford to forgo their support and depend only on Livni. There are many members of Kadima, some formerly from Likud, such as Shaul Mofaz, who want to join the coalition, but Livni is adamant. If Kadima does go into the opposition with Labor, then some MKs might decide to break with the party and join (or re-join) Likud in order to be in the Government. This would be the split in Kadima that many had been predicting would happen.
One main reason Livni gives for not joining a Likud Government is that there is a fundamental difference in philosophy between Kadima and Likud over the peace process with the Palestinians. That is partly true, since the policy of unilateral "disengagement" of PM Sharon and the the prior policy of "land for peace" enshrined in the Oslo Accords of the Labor Party, have both been found to be unworkable. That does not mean that Netanyahu does not want peace, it means that he has to find an alternative way to the current approach. That is why the right got a majority in the Knesset, since most Israelis are fed up and regard the previous formulae as having been tried and found wanting. It is not the formulae per se that are bad, it's the fact that the Palestinians, both PA-Fatah and Hamas, are not the peace-seeking partners that Israel needs.
Bibi's plan is different, he proposes a bottom-up rather than a top-down plan. Most plans so far have been thought up by politicians meeting in smoky rooms and then imposed from above. Bibi proposes to spend money on the PA to produce jobs, to raise educational levels, to teach technical trades, so that gradually the Palestinian standard of living will rise and they will get used to a peaceful and more fulfilling existence. Many doubt that this approach can work, since Hamas is not interested in a higher standard of living, their opposition to Israel's existence is existential. But, nevertheless this "economic" approach might lead in time to a "two-state solution."
In some respects this plan is similar to that proposed by Natan Sharansky, who emphasized that only when the PA is a democracy can the two states engage in real peaceful negotiations. But, that is also wishful thinking, because Hamas opposes democracy in principle, and waiting for the PA to become a democracy is like waiting for hell to freeze over (even if they had elections once). So no one has an effective means to arrive at a "two-state solution" and an economic plan might be the best, most rational approach. Since Livni's preferred way has not worked, it seems that Netanyahu when he is PM will pitch his approach to the Obama Administration, and we'll see what happens.
One main reason Livni gives for not joining a Likud Government is that there is a fundamental difference in philosophy between Kadima and Likud over the peace process with the Palestinians. That is partly true, since the policy of unilateral "disengagement" of PM Sharon and the the prior policy of "land for peace" enshrined in the Oslo Accords of the Labor Party, have both been found to be unworkable. That does not mean that Netanyahu does not want peace, it means that he has to find an alternative way to the current approach. That is why the right got a majority in the Knesset, since most Israelis are fed up and regard the previous formulae as having been tried and found wanting. It is not the formulae per se that are bad, it's the fact that the Palestinians, both PA-Fatah and Hamas, are not the peace-seeking partners that Israel needs.
Bibi's plan is different, he proposes a bottom-up rather than a top-down plan. Most plans so far have been thought up by politicians meeting in smoky rooms and then imposed from above. Bibi proposes to spend money on the PA to produce jobs, to raise educational levels, to teach technical trades, so that gradually the Palestinian standard of living will rise and they will get used to a peaceful and more fulfilling existence. Many doubt that this approach can work, since Hamas is not interested in a higher standard of living, their opposition to Israel's existence is existential. But, nevertheless this "economic" approach might lead in time to a "two-state solution."
In some respects this plan is similar to that proposed by Natan Sharansky, who emphasized that only when the PA is a democracy can the two states engage in real peaceful negotiations. But, that is also wishful thinking, because Hamas opposes democracy in principle, and waiting for the PA to become a democracy is like waiting for hell to freeze over (even if they had elections once). So no one has an effective means to arrive at a "two-state solution" and an economic plan might be the best, most rational approach. Since Livni's preferred way has not worked, it seems that Netanyahu when he is PM will pitch his approach to the Obama Administration, and we'll see what happens.
posted by Jack Cohen at 1:21 PM
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