Hatnuah Chairwoman Tzipi Livni has left a long line of political victims in her wake. Many have followed her, only to realize, time and again, that once a political opportunity – any political opportunity – comes her way, she will not hesitate to take it even if it means zigzagging politically and abandoning principles and longtime partners in favor of the promise of even a fleeting political boon.
Now, it seems, is her turn to feel disappointed, betrayed and deserted. Labor leader Avi Gabbay unilateral decision on Tuesday to dissolve Zionist Union was a lesson to Livni on how political subversion looks and feels like from the other end.
Gabbay all but ambushed Livni in a live press conference, completely blindsiding her with his announcement. Later, in her own press conference, she reiterated the tired line about what a politician's priorities should be ("the state, the party, then me") but coming from her this sounded more than tired; it sounded grotesque.
Livni's track record proves that while political integrity should be what every politician strives for, she has been unable to stomach the thought of paying any kind of personal price for it.
For example, in 2009, she could have urged then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign over the criminal investigation against him, but she chose to remain silent and hold on to her position as foreign minister. Later, she found former MK Haim Ramon's conviction of sexual misconduct inconsequential when it came to giving him a pivotal role in the Kadima party, and she later called on him again, to help her launch Hatnuah.
Over the years, Livni has proven that her loyalties, politically and otherwise, lie only with herself. She has no problem casting her supporters aside once they have outlived their usefulness. She does not experience regret or remorse – she is driven purely by opportunism.
This track record also means there is little doubt that Gabbay would have been next. Livni would not have stayed in a party projected to win a single-digit number of seats – Zionist Union was predicted to win, at best, eight mandates – and she was just waiting for the next opportunity to come along. It could be Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience Party, Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid or Orly Levy-Abekasis' Gesher party. As far as Livni is concerned, no escape route is unworthy and no opportunity is too small to grab.
What she failed to foresee is that Gabbay would be the one who would be fed up. Labor insiders say that as far as he is concerned, he simply paid her in kind for her public demand of the opposition leader's seat a few weeks back, which took him by surprise. One cannot pretend she was thinking of the good of the country at that moment. He, on the other hand, must have found her to be impertinent and disloyal.
Gabbay is right, as Hatnuah members will surely soon learn. If Livni is able to make "other arrangements," she will surely leave all of them behind – again. This is a pattern, as her political dance card is based on a never-ending rotation.
