Many doubt FM is capable of advancing long-stalled peace process if she becomes prime minister.
By BRENDA GAZZARlivni in da hood 224 88 aj(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimksi )
The Arab media are treating Kadima's new leader Tzipi Livni with a mixture of admiration and skepticism, with many commentators doubting she was capable of advancing the long-stalled peace process if she succeeded in becoming prime minister.
"Livni is a calm and shy woman, but she is stubborn and very self-confident, and she amazes whomever she meets for the first time with her honesty and her ability to keep a distance between herself and others," the Jordanian newspaper al-Dustour wrote in a Sunday opinion piece. "She has learned recently how to listen to advisers and how to gather around her the political and media team that worked with (former Israeli Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon, and this helped her to win the leadership of Kadima."
Despite "her limited experience" in the political realm, the al-Dustour article claimed, she had been instrumental in building support for Ariel Sharon's disengagement from Gaza and was the one who had found a way out of the Second Lebanon War.
While she had yet to establish a significant political legacy, the article said, she was not tainted by corruption, which caused the downfall of Prime Minister Olmert and soiled the reputation of many Israeli leaders, including Sharon himself. Though this alone may not be enough to carry her to the top. "Israelis could change their minds quickly about Livni after they've long forgotten the tricks of Netanyahu and his personal and economic corruption," the article said.
Despite Livni's roles as chief Israeli negotiator with the Palestinians and foreign minister for Kadima, many Arab commentators are not optimistic about her ability to make peace. While some question her personal ability or will to make significant change, others believe that the political climate or Israeli system of government makes it difficult to do so.
"Concerning the peace process track with the Palestinians and the Arabs, no dramatic changes are expected under a government headed by Livni, and she is more right-wing and rigid than Olmert, which means that new obstacles could appear in front of the so-called peace process," wrote Dr. Faiz Rashid in Oman's Watan newspaper on Sunday, adding that the Kadima elections had produced "the most powerful woman in Israel."
Similarly, an article in Saturday's al-Qabas newspaper in Kuwait said the process of forming a coalition government could take weeks or months, ultimately forcing Livni and her supporters "to decrease their ambitions in peace-making."
"Livni's first task is the challenge of reunifying the Kadima party and forming a coalition government to avoid an election confrontation with Benjamin Netanyahu, who is leading in the polls," the article said.
Also on Saturday, in an opinion piece appearing in the Jordanian newspaper El-Rai, the author Muhammad Kharoub called on Livni to set a new political agenda for the region.
Even if Livni was raised "in a purely terrorist environment" and her father belonged to "one of the most prominent Zionist gangs whose members' hands are stained with blood," he wrote, "this doesn't mean that this woman has the qualifications and the vision and the foresight that enables her to create a sharp turn in the Israeli political approach, and especially in their aggressive approach, which depends on the crudeness of force."
AP contributed to this report.
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