After having been a member of the Likud, Kadima, and Zionist Union parties, and founded her own Hatnuah list, former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni is sending out feelers about possibly casting her lot in with the center-left Blue and White, an associate of Livni told Israel Hayom on Sunday.
According to the associate, Livni is "ready and willing" to return to politics and sees Blue and White as an option.
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Livni announced in February of this year that she was quitting politics after suffering humiliation at the hands of Labor chairman Avi Gabbay, who blindsided her by announcing at a press conference – as she was sitting beside him – that he was dismantling the Zionist Union (the joint Labor-Hatnuah list formed in 2015).
At a press conference in Tel Aviv on Feb. 18, Livni said, "20 years ago, I was elected to the Israeli Knesset. The same Zionist values I learned in my parents' home have been with me throughout my years in public life.
"Obvious values have become controversial. 'Peace' became a bad word. The idea of separating from the Palestinians to achieve peace was replaced by the idea of annexing territories," she said.
Livni spoke about how she envisioned the role of the leadership of Israel: "The role of leadership, is to defend the right of expression of those with whom we do not agree. This is a battle for Israel. I think it's terrible that today one needs courage to espouse the basic values that form the basis for the State of Israel," she said.
Meanwhile, Blue and White is trying to determine its party list ahead of the March 2, 2020 Knesset election. Female MKs are claiming that they had been promised higher places on the list, putting more women into the party's top 10 slots. Currently, the Blue and White top 10 includes only two women: MKs Miki Haimovich and Orna Barbivai.
Parts of this article were originally published in a piece by Yori Yalon.
