Tzipi Livni failed at a number of critical junctions: her failure to form an alternative government following the resignation of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert; her inability to create a coalition following the last general elections, despite the fact that her party won the most Knesset seats; her choosing to sit in the opposition instead of joining Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government; and finally her lack of control over her own party. Livnis supporters on the Left say that she also failed by not offering a leftist alternative to the conservative Netanyahu government. The truth is that Livni was never the head of the left-wing camp, even though the media bestowed that title on her. She was at the forefront of the anti-Netanyahu camp, meaning she was considered an option to replace him as premier. With regards to her cultural, spiritual and even emotional beliefs, she has always remained a part of the same fighting family, the daughter of Eitan Livni, the chief operations officer for the Irgun (a nationalist underground Jewish paramilitary organization during the British Mandate), and Sarah Livni, a combat soldier in the organization. At a gathering of neo-conservatives around two years ago, Livni spoke about Israels legal system and the countrys Jewish character. The things Livni said led me to tell her that with a worldview such as hers, she was actually a Trojan horse within the camp of the political Left. As such, I was never convinced of her opposition to the Basic Law proposal: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, submitted by her Kadima colleague Avi Dichter. Livnis opposition to the proposal, such an important part of our national soul, stemmed only from her inner-political considerations. It was merely Livni asking for legitimacy from the camp which made her its leader, but which she apparently never belonged to on an emotional level. Sima Kadmon wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday: The Livni era is over. Maybe its been over for a while already and we just didnt know it. Kadmons words are more a testament to her and her media cabal. Who didnt already know this? What era is Kadmon speaking of exactly? Only Livnis devout supporters, those who force-fed her to us as a serious political alternative, never saw reality for what it truly was. So what happens now? The insubordinate voters have once again done the opposite of what Livnis adherents in the Israeli media decreed. The voters preferred Shaul Mofaz over who was, up until recently, the great white hope. Thus pass Livnis days of glory. The public and the media are parting ways, not just on the two state solution, but on the essence of nationhood.
