Tzippi Livni, Who are You?

I listened to her speak, and I can say that Tzippi Livni is no different in 2012 than she was in 2009.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  In 2009, Livni’s campaign message was, “I’m not Bibi and I’m not Barak.”  Now it’s, “I’m not Bibi and I’m not Shelly.”  Thank you for that clarification!  I was getting confused!

But who are you?  What are your policies?  What do you believe in?

The fact that “The Tzippi Livni Party” (which sounds more like a Nick at Nite program than a respectable political party) is supposed to get ANY mandates in the upcoming Knesset, let alone 7, is appalling.  It’s an absolute joke, and a sad day for Israel.  That means that nearly 6% of the electorate is voting for nothing.  Not that they’re not voting or anything of the sort.  Simple, their vote is a vote for nothingness.

In a country with 34 political parties running for Knesset, it’s not hard to find one that appeals to each and of every one of us.  But even to just concentrate on the main parties, there are clear messages in a bunch of the parties.  Likud-Beteinu and Labor remain the two main parties, on the right and left respectively, and they have strong messages on what they believe in.  Then there’s Habayit Hayehudi, (The Jewish Home,) Atzoma L’Yisrael, (Strong for Israel,) Yesh Atid, (There’s a Future,) all with clear messages, at least on some issues.  The ultra-Orthodox parties (UTJ, Shas, and Am Shalem), the Arab parties (Hadash, Balaad, and Ra’am Ta’al-UAL,) Meretz, even the Green parties (all of them).  Something for everyone.  Yet I have yet to hear a single platform or idea from Tzippi Livni.  And over 200,000 people plan to vote for her.

In her address to Bar Ilan, Livni claimed to detest all the parties who simply “campaign on slogans and headlines, with no true platform.  I actually plan to bring about a shared national burden, Haredi draft, lower burdens for the middle class, etc.”  So she detests headlines – and campaigns with them.

She’s upset at Bibi for not creating peace.  I find this interesting.  For 64 years, every leader, whether Ben-Gurion or Begin, Shamir or Rabin, everyone has tried to achieve peace.  And everyone has failed.  So how she managed to squarely blame Bibi was a neat little trick.  Regardless, she’s upset that he won’t return to the negotiation room.  One little question: Which negotiation room?  Wasn’t she in that very room in Annapolis in 2007 with former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert when basically everything was offered, free of charge?  Mahmoud Abbas rejected that.  As did Yasser Arafat in 2000.  Even nowadays, Abbas barely controls Fatah, and Fatah barely controls the West Bank, and the West Bank is only half of the Palestinians.  If any Israeli leader wants to negotiate with a Palestinian leader, there’s really only Ismail Haniyeh.  Someone who refuses to recognize the right of a Jew, anywhere in the world, to live.  And Abbas recently signed a reconciliation agreement with him.  So what exactly is Bibi supposed to do to “create peace?”

To Livni’s failed critique of Bibi’s peace policy, I say the words of Golda Meir ring ever true today: “There will only be peace when the Arabs love their kids more than they hate our’s.”

To Livni’s political message: Your last go-round got you the largest party and put you in the Opposition.  This time around, you will not be relevant and you brought this on yourself.  Do us all a favor and leave politics.  Unless you have an actual message to share.  Ever since 2004, we’ve all been waiting to hear it.