IMHO Ruthie Blum, in Israel Hayom, hit on the nail when she wrote:
“Personally, I would have called it treason. But that’s just me.”
Blum was referring to Tsippi Livni’s “private initiative” aka unapproved trip to London to meet up with Abbas.
As soon as it became apparent that Abbas was no longer willing to continue being courted by Israel and the United States, Kerry threw his arms up in despair, blamed Israel for the impasse and took a time-out from his incessant shuttle diplomacy.That left Livni all dressed up with nowhere to go.Rather than directing her outrage at Abbas for this turn of events, she made a secret pilgrimage to see him in London last week. It was a move that spurred an angry Netanyahu and other coalition members to announce that this had been Livni’s private initiative, devoid of any official backing.
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No doubt Livni is just emulating Shimon Peres. Davka, Sarah Honig devoted her Friday article about the underhanded illegal, unapproved negotiations by Peres and other extreme Leftists.
The hubris to flout the authority of any government – no matter who heads it – exclusively emboldens leftwing players. They range from relatively unknown individuals (though they’re always well-connected to the real clout-bearers) all the way to top-ranking ministers who, fired up by their own chutzpah, set out to hijack history-making prerogatives.
Soon-to-retire President Shimon Peres still does it in his ostensibly ceremonial role of president. But he already behaved badly as foreign minister to both prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin.
The latest to dabble in unauthorized diplomacy is Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. She recently conferred with Ramallah figurehead Mahmoud Abbas in London, despite the government’s decision (which she supported) to freeze contact with him for his kiss-and-make-up with Jihadist Hamas.
This is very dangerous for the State of Israel. Policy is supposed to be made by the Prime Minister, and nobody without specific authority may negotiate for the Government of the State of Israel. Bibi has some cabinet-cleaning to do.