Eitan Haber
Photo: Shalom Bar Tal
Tzipi Livni’s dilemma
Joining government may salvage State but constitutes political suicide for Kadima
A well-known dictum talks about a person’s “finest hour”; yet Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni
can have her moment of glory in just one minute – all she needs to do is say “yes.” This is what Israel’s
political establishment expects her to do these days.
The situation is clear at this time: Israel’s global standing is gradually eroding, and we can already see the de-legitimization of our suffering state within broad camps across the world.
In many aspects, this is a dangerous situation. Many things – and in fact, everything – can be done to a de-legitimized state.
Under these circumstances, Kadima Chairwoman Livni is being called to the colors. Examining the situation from a diplomatic point of view, Livni and her fellow Kadima members belong at the government table at this time.
Should Livni conduct herself in line with the way Menachem Begin, Yosef Sapir, and Moshe Dayan behaved on the eve of the Six Day War, she may very well have her finest hour, as the woman who salvaged the state from our current difficult and rather impossible situation.
However, examining the issue from every personal, political, and partisan point of view, such move on her part would constitute an almost certain recipe for political suicide.
So these days, Tzipi Livni is being torn between two possibilities that are completely the opposite of each other. What will she decide to do?
