Tzipi Livni

Leaders commemorate Yitzhak Rabin

On Saturday night, a rally will be held at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, marking fourteen years since the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Several leaders will deliver speeches to mark the occassion.

President Obama, who will not be at the rally, recorded a message. According to Ma'ariv:

A New Fatah?

The first Fatah conference in twenty years concluded this week, with many analysts claiming it has bolstered the position of younger Palestinian leaders untainted by corruption, as well as that of President Mahmoud Abbas, the party's chairman.

Over 2,000 delegates attended the closed-door conference that was billed as an opportunity for the "young guard" of Palestinian leaders to replace veteran associates of the late Fatah leader Yasser Arafat.

"100 Days, Zero Achievements” for Netanyahu’s Government

After 100 days in office, opposition leader Tzipi Livni criticizes Prime Minister Netanyahu for achieving nothing besides buckling under international pressure. Although Livni has continually supported a two-state solution, she claims that Netanyahu's recent support for this solution is unrelated to a change in belief, but rather solely to improve relations with the US.

The Jerusalem Post reports:

Netanyahu Weighing Possibility of Broadening Government

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has angered some of his right-wing coalition parties by his work towards a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This loss of support from the right, combined with US pressure, may cause Netanyahu to broaden his coalition to include Kadima, as well as open more discussion on the settlement issue.

James Besser in The Jewish Week questioned different Middle East experts and scholars to discuss the changes that may occur in government due to Netanyahu's political shift towards the left:

Israel's Cabinet Passes the Budget, No One Is Happy

In Israel, passing the annual state budget is an exercise that can destabilize governments. And yet, Israel's cabinet approved the 2009-2010 state budget with a strong majority in favor: twenty-six ministers voted for the budget, while all four Shas ministers voted against it.

An Israeli View: Palestinians will have to find a formula

The "Jewish state" controversy returned to the headlines a couple of weeks ago. In the course of the first meeting between US emissary George Mitchell and PM Binyamin Netanyahu, both invoked the term. Netanyahu stated that Israel would not enter negotiations over creation of a Palestinian state until and unless the Palestinians declared they recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Mitchell presented the vision of Israel as a Jewish state alongside a Palestinian state as the end-product of two-state negotiations.

Lieberman the Foreign Minister, Livni the Prophet Elijah

The Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu signed a coalition agreement last night that makes Avigdor Lieberman Israel's next foreign minister, and gives his party four additional ministerial posts.

However, if Tzipi Livni's Kadima Party decides to join the coalition soon, they agreed to amend their deal.

Treading an Ominous Path

The collapse of the coalition negotiations between Likud Leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Kadima's Tzipi Livni over Netanyahu's refusal to commit to the two-state solution may force him to form a narrow-based right-of-centre government. Such a government is likely to impede any progress or end up disintegrating under domestic and American pressure to make important concessions for the peace process. The Obama administration must remain unequivocal in its pursuit of the two-state solution to prevent a further escalation of the conflict with unpredictable regional implications.

What was said about Hamas in Israel's Cabinet Meeting

In Yediot Acharonoth (translated from the Hebrew) today, Nahum Barnea discusses an argument that erupted in a cabinet meeting between Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni, and Ehud Barak on the Israeli-Hamas cease-fire talks brokered by Egypt. That argument, while it screams political rivalry, also presents the greater debate over making political deals with ones enemies.

Nahum Barnea:

The Morning Beat - March 4

Clinton in Jerusalem

"Israel understands that the Obama administration is determined," Maya Bengal wrote in Ma'ariv today.

In Israel, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been repeatedly expressing the U.S. determination to work on Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Syrian peace.

Bengal reported,