Interview: Tzippi Livni - would start negotiations from offer to divide Jerusalem?

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
20 July '10

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA:

"Kadima would have continued the negotiations from where they stopped. I negotiated with the Palestinians for nine months. "

Yes, Ms. Livni, you negotiated with the Palestinians. And so did PM Olmert.

And we don't have to speculate what Mr. Olmert offered the Palestinians - division of Jerusalem, etc., since he has been pretty open about it.

So when you say "Kadima would have continued the negotiations from where they stopped" please don't think we are idiots.

Oh, right. You reply to reporters that "no one can teach me about loyalty to the unity of Jerusalem".

But when you say "Kadima would have continued the negotiations from where they stopped" without very specifically and explicitly saying the intention is what you negotiated and not what PM Olmert negotiated then you are indeed saying that the negotiations should start from Israel's acceptance of the division of Jerusalem.]

Interview: Tzipi Livni
by Charley J. Levine Hadassah Magazine June/July 2010
www.hadassahmagazine.org/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=twI6LmN7IzF&b=5698175&ct=8439219

Tzipi Livni led the Kadima Party to a plurality victory in Israel's 2009 Knesset election but became leader of the opposition after Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud-which garnered one seat less-was able to form a larger coalition. Livni, a lawyer, served as a lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces and in the Mossad. First elected to the Knesset in 1999, she served in senior government positions including minister of justice and minister of foreign affairs.

Q. Do you share the Israeli public's deep-seated resistance to President Obama's efforts to pressure Israel to stop building new housing for Jews in East Jerusalem?

A. Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem are part of the Israeli consensus. I disagree with how [Prime Minister] Netanyahu is handling the issue, however. We have a prime minister who tries to keep everyone happy without taking a clear, direct path. Thisweakness is leading us to a diplomatic collapse. In the past, I said specifically after earlier criticism from Washington that Gilo, on the capital's southern flank, will always be a part of Jerusalem and Israel. Since '67, the United States has never accepted any settlements or building activities over the green line.

(Read full article)

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