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.
“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.”