Israel's foreign minister declared victory Thursday in a tight race to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as the head of the governing party, getting a chance to be the country's first female leader in 34 years. Tzipi Livni, 50, said she would immediately turn to the task of trying to cobble together a new government. Official results showed Livni winning by a 1.1 percentage point margin in the Kadima Party primary elections — a far narrower victory than the double-digit romp polls had predicted.
Livni, a political moderate, barely edged out hawkish rival Shaul Mofaz, a former defense minister, in a contest that could have far-reaching implications for peacemaking with the Palestinians and Syria. Livni said she would launch coalition talks on Friday, even though President Shimon Peres cannot officially ask her to try to put together a government until Olmert resigns the premiership. After she is assigned the task, she will have 42 days to form a new ruling coalition. If she succeeds, she will become Israel's first female prime minister since Golda Meir stepped down in 1974. If she fails, the country will hold elections in early 2009, a year and a half ahead of schedule. Olmert, who is stepping down to battle multiple corruption allegations, will remain as a caretaker leader until parliament approves a new Cabinet. Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said the prime minister called Livni to congratulate her on her victory and would notify the Cabinet on Sunday that he would resign. "After that, he will resign," Regev said, without specifying when.
Israeli media reported Thursday that Mofaz called Livni to congratulate her, rejecting a legal adviser's proposal to challenge the results. Three TV exit polls released just before the voting ended Wednesday night had showed a clear victory for Livni over Mofaz, about 47 percent to 37 percent, leading to premature celebrations. But official results saw that margin shrink dramatically, to 43.1 percent for Livni and 42 percent for Mofaz — a 431-vote edge. This was not the first time exit polls have badly missed their mark here. Livni needed 40 percent of the vote to avoid a runoff next week. Two other candidates lagged far behind in the tally. A fast-rising star in Israel's political firmament, Livni is Israel's lead negotiator in peace talks with the Palestinians and a rare female power figure in a nation dominated by macho military men and a religious establishment with strict views on the role of women. A lawyer and former agent in the Mossad spy agency, she is eager to continue the low-decibel diplomatic efforts. She says she hopes diplomatic efforts to halt Iran's nuclear program will prevail, though she says all options are on the table.
With opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu's hardline Likud Party polling well, neither Kadima nor its coalition partners appear eager for a new election. But the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, which could be key to building a new coalition, has already served notice that it would not join a government that is willing to negotiate the fate of disputed Jerusalem with the Palestinians. As lead peace negotiator, Livni is committed to discussing all the outstanding issues between Israel and the Palestinians, and the future of Jerusalem is at the heart of the conflict. Shas' position will require some deft political maneuvering on Livni's part if she is to sidestep elections. [End of report]
Im very pleased with the result. If given a choice between Livni and Mofaz, I would definitely choose Livni because I like her level-headedness and tenacity approach as compared to Mofaz, who is a much more aggressive type of person. Being the foreign minister herself, she would have a lot of experience when it comes to dealing issues involving countries such as Palestine or Syria. She herself has been in talks with the Palestinians for almost a year regarding the peace deal. The job doesnt end there for her though. Winning the contest to replace Olmert as the leader of the Kadima Party is only the first step. The next step for her of course is to try and form a new coalition and that is not going to be an easy task. As you can read from the report, she has only 42 days to form a coalition that is acceptable to parliament. She will need to try everything to avoid a general election but convincing some of the parties to join her coalition would, like I have said earlier, not be an easy task. The party that could be a stumbling block for her would be the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party.
Now they have made their feelings known that they would not join a government that is willing to negotiate the fate of disputed Jerusalem with the Palestinians. Therefore, she will have to do everything in her power to convince them that she has a good plan. Another reason why it wouldnt be good if a general election were to take place is that the peace talk between Palestine, would be put in jeopardy. I dont know how the other parties would react if they were in charge. There have been some achievements that has taken place in the peace talk, and in order to sustain it, it would be much better if the Kadima Party remains in power. The Palestinian Information Minister Riad Malki has came out today and said that he was hopeful that peace talks could succeed under Israel's new leadership. I certainly share the same hope as well. The peace deal was actually started by the U.S. if you can remember and as much as they wanted it to be done with by the end of this year, I doubt it will happen. Should there be a general election, the Likud Party is expected to win, so that is not a good sign for her and her party. I believe she can do a good job as a Prime Minister. After the failure of Olmert, I think she is a fresh change to the politics in Israel.
With both the U.S. and Israel leadership set to change by the year end, it is very difficult to say where the peace deal with Palestine will be heading to. I just hope that whoever the leaders will be, it will not have a huge effect on the deal and that all parties could continue to do what their predecessors did. Of course there are other issues to be dealt with as well such as the Iran nuclear ambitions along with Syria. I dont know how much will the leadership differ when it comes to dealing with those issues, but I just got a huge feeling that Livni will do a better job than Olmert. I guess we will have to wait and see for now.
*The report was taken from Associated Press.
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