Former FM Livni set to unveil plan for peace

Tzipi Livni party leader focuses on diplomatic issue in final push before election, blaming PM for stalemate in peace process.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Tzipi Livni 370 (photo credit: Courtesy The Tzipi Livni Party)
Tzipi Livni 370
(photo credit: Courtesy The Tzipi Livni Party)
Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni will outline a comprehensive diplomatic plan for reaching peace between Israel and the Palestinians at a press conference at her party’s Tel Aviv headquarters Tuesday.
Livni held diplomatic negotiations for several months with then-Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurei when she was foreign minister. While then-prime minister Ehud Olmert has revealed what he conceded in concurrent talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Livni has never said what she gave up.
The Tzipi Livni Party unveiled a new slogan Monday that emphasizes its focus on the diplomatic issue: “Those who want a peace agreement must vote Livni.”
In a speech to business leaders, Livni blamed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the diplomatic stalemate with the Palestinians and said she returned to politics because she was upset that the Labor Party was downplaying the issue.
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“A day after the election, Israel could find itself in unprecedented diplomatic isolation,” Livni warned. “We have to tell the public and the undecided voters that there is still hope for a different Israel that will negotiate with the Palestinians and remove itself from the intolerable diplomatic situation we have in for the last few years.”
Political opponents of Livni have charged that she will quit politics for a second time the day after next Tuesday’s election, especially if she fares poorly. Recent polls have indicated that the party would receive only six or seven seats.
Livni’s husband, Naftali Spitzer, revealed Monday, that there were no expectations in his family that she would be elected prime minister in this election. But he hinted that he believed the next election could have a different result.
“She is here to stay, she is here to carry out her mission, and she is here to bring an agreement, even if takes 10 or 20 years,” Spitzer told Army Radio. “She did not come to politics, for two weeks, she came for 20 years.”