Israel Matzav

Livni loses in the cabinet again

You will recall that back in October, the Ministerial Committee on Legislation adopted a private member's bill offered up by MK Yaakov Litzmann (UTJ) that would require the prior approval of 80 of the Knesset's 120 members for the government to negotiate the dividing of Jerusalem. 'Justice' minister Tzipi Livni, who is Israel's 'chief negotiator,' and who would like nothing more than to give away some of those Haredi neighborhoods in 'east' Jerusalem, appealed the vote, preventing the bill from reaching the Knesset floor. On Sunday, the bill passed again, and this time it should reach the full Knesset.

The proposal, by MK Ya’acov Litzman (UTJ), was brought back to a vote after Justice Minister Tzipi Livni appealed it in October.

Litzman’s bill mandates that 80 MKs are necessary to authorize any negotiations with the Palestinians on whether to give up any part of Jerusalem.

Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On said “the vote reveals the true face of the Netanyahu government, which is committed to an ideology of the complete Land of Israel and wants to sabotage any future peace treaty.”

“The Netanyahu government sends Livni to negotiate, but at the same time allows the Knesset to put in preconditions that torpedo any possibility of negotiating on Jerusalem. Even the Netanyahu government knows that there won’t be an agreement without dividing sovereignty in Jerusalem. Therefore, supporting this bill goes against logic and allowing the government to negotiate on anything,” Gal-On stated.

...

In October, after appealing the bill when it was first approved by the Ministerial Committee, Livni said that responsible ministers must allow the government to make policies before they reach the Knesset.

“Members of the coalition are ruining the ability of Israel to make diplomatic decisions and saying the government shouldn’t deal with security concerns out of some kind of populism,” she said incredulously. “Do they want the government to defend our interests, including Jerusalem, or do they want to lead us all to chaos?” Livni emphasized at a Hatnua faction meeting that “no one can teach us about Jerusalem and no one loves Jerusalem more than us. Jerusalem isn’t a haredi or religious matter, it is a deep, national one.”

Yeah, right.... But if she could some of those Haredim out of Jerusalem, she'd be very happy.

Labels: Jerusalem, Tzipi Livni, Yaakov Litzman

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:49 PM