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.

The post Report: Tzipi Livni considering joining Blue and White appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

‎"I am proud of Shelly. She is a terrific MK who leads determined ‎struggles in and out of the Knesset," Gabbay said. "Shelly filled the ‎role of opposition leader in the past and did so well. She will help us ‎prepare for the election and for victory."‎

Yachimovich said she ‎would work to galvanize the opposition, ‎adding, "We will work together toward the goal of replacing the ‎government with one that pursues peace, fights socio-economic ‎gaps and respects democracy and the rule of law."‎

She further said Gabbay dismissing Livni was "a brave act of ‎leadership" as Livni "refused to accept Gabbay's leadership and ‎weakened the party."‎

Meanwhile, many in Labor who agreed with the split from Hatnuah ‎were critical of Gabbay for choosing to announce it in a live ‎press conference, clearly blindsiding Livni.‎

Gabbay, whose approval ratings within the party have plummeted ‎since he was elected in July 2017, also evoked Labor members' ire ‎by not consulting with anyone prior to announcing the dissolution ‎of Zionist Union, and some even called him a "dictator." ‎

‎"That's not how you do things, especially things like this," a senior ‎Labor lawmaker said. "You can't run a democratic party that has ‎set institutions like a one-man show, like a dictatorship.‎

‎"I have no doubt that if there was a constitutional way [in Labor] to ‎remove Gabbay as chairman and name another party ‎leader, we would have done so a long time ago, and certainly in ‎light of what he did today [Tuesday]," he said.

The official further predicted that Gabbay's chances of winning the Feb. 12 Labor ‎primaries were low, as under his leadership the party's public ‎standing has deteriorated to an unprecedented low. ‎

Another party insider said, "There's no teamwork. He doesn't ‎consult with anyone. What he did [dissolving Zionist Union] was ‎just stupid. Most party members think so, but they're afraid of ‎saying so because it could hurt the party further."‎

Briefing faction members on the move on Tuesday Gabbay justified ‎his actions saying Livni became a "political and personal liability."‎

‎"What I did was a move that, as far as I was concerned, freed us ‎from this burden. … Tzipi's voters are already in [Israel Resilience ‎Party leader] Benny Gantz's pocket. We did not lose anything, we ‎just ridded ourselves of a problem he said. ‎

Veteran Labor MK Eitan Cabel retorted, "I don't want to talk about ‎the shaming you imposed on Tzipi, without her knowledge or our ‎knowledge. But this move was a mistake. You do whatever you ‎want without consulting anyone? You decide for all of us? This ‎party was established long before you came along. This isn't a ‎private business you own. You think this will somehow see the ‎party bounce back to 24 seats in the polls? You had no legitimacy ‎to make such a decision without asking us."‎

Others expressed concerns that Labor, which was projected to win ‎eight Knesset seats had Zionist Union continued to exist, will drop ‎below the 3.25% electoral threshold following Gabbay's move and find itself out of the Knesset altogether.

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