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Scandal-bitten
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that he
will not be his party's leader going into the next
election. Olmert, who has led Israel for the past 2½
years, is said to have accepted cash in envelopes from
an American businessman. For months he has been under
pressure to step down. Olmert has said he will resign
once his Kadima party elects a new leader. Speculation
is that the most likely person to take over the
leadership slot at Kadima is Israel’s current foreign
minister—Tzipi Livni.
Livni, age 49, is the most powerful woman in Israel
since Golda Meir, Israel’s prime minister in the 1970s.
Livni is well respected abroad and at home, and is a
friend of Condolezza Rice. She has successfully been
able to avoid scandals that have felled other Israeli
government officials. In May of 2007, after a harsh
government report criticized prime minister Olmert for
his handling of Israel’s war against Lebanon, Livni
called on the prime minister to resign and said she
would pursue the post of leader in the Kadima party.
Kadima is the largest party in the Israeli parliament.
With Olmert stepping down there is now a power struggle
as to who will lead the party. The leader of Kadima will
then have to face a general election contest that will
most likely involve going against Likud leader Benjamin
Netanyahu. Either Livni or Benjamin Netanyahu is rumored
to have the best chance of becoming Israel’s next prime
minister.
Livni joined Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad,
after leaving the army with the rank of lieutenant. She
was stationed in Paris and travelled throughout Europe
in pursuit of Arab terrorists. According to former
colleagues she was involved in operations to kill
Palestinian terrorists in European capitals.
She is said to have an indirect role in the
assassination of a leading Palestine Liberation
Organization leader who was shot dead by a Mossad hit
squad in Athens, Greece in the summer of 1983. Linvi
absolutely refuses to discuss her work within Mossad. In
time she became a corporate lawyer and carved out a
successful career as a corporate attorney. It is said
that she is tough minded and intelligent with an I.Q. of
150. She is married to Naftali Spitzer, an advertising
executive and they have two boys of whom she is very
protective, Omri and Yuval.
Should Israel be ruled by the Jews only or should
Palestine be divided in two states, one Israeli, one
Palestinian. This question has plagued Livni. When
visiting London a few years ago with then-Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon, Livni met with members of the Jewish
community. One individual asked her if she had abandoned
her dream of a Greater Land of Israel (ruled by the Jews
only). Her reply was sincere and thoughtful. She said,
the dream she had grown up with—a Palestine ruled by
Jews alone—was not the best solution today. Two states,
she now believed was the only workable solution for both
Jews and Palestinians.
Livni was a leading voice in Sharon’s Gaza’s pullout
strategy. She decided to follow Sharon, leaving the
Likud party to join the new center-right Kadima party.
Today she is Olmert’s deputy Prime Minister in Kadima.
Western observers say Livni at first seems to be soft
but the real truth is that underneath her perceived
softness is a tough woman. She is ardently defensive of
her country and if elected prime minister is most likely
to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities—so say those who are
familiar with her thinking.
How is she perceived within Israel. Ari Shavit, a
political columnist for the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz
writes, “She is perceived as non-corrupt, as Mrs. Clean
amid a crisis of low moral standards within Israeli
politics—an elegant, female figure among brutal,
unworthy politicians”.
Who else may become Israel’s next prime minister other
than Livni? Shaul Mofaz is the current Minister of
Transportation. Mofaz served for years in the Israeli
Military and was promoted to major general. He also
served as minister of defense for nearly 5 years until
2006. This past June, Mofaz stated that Israel would
attack Iran if they continued their nuclear weapons
program. If Livni stumbles politically, Mofaz may gain
more national attention.
And let’s not forget Benjamin Netanyahu—leader of the
Likud party. He served as prime minister from 1996-1999.
If elected he promises to dismantle Hamas as a terrorist
threat in Gaza. If Livni does not become prime minister,
we may be looking at Netanyahu as Israel’s next prime
minister. Netanyahu is a hawk who is anxious to confront
Iran before Iran develops that first nuclear bomb.
With Iran on the verge of producing a bomb and Israel
close to electing a new national leader the Middle East
is the region to watch in the months ahead. |