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t seems a concerted effort is under way to conceal the identity of the Harvard law student who hurled anti-Semitic epithets at Israel's former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni during her recent address at the university. During the question and answer session at her speaking engagement, someone identified merely as "the president of a student organization," invoked an age-old anti-Semitic slur, asking Livni, "how is it that you are so smelly?” He then repeated the question: "A question about the odor of Ms. Tzipi Livni, she’s very smelly, and I was just wondering." CanaryMission.org notes that great lengths are being taken...

Former Foreign Minister claims widespread Arab anti-Semitism is reason for, not against Israeli concessions and Palestinian statehood. Former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni (Zionist Camp) offered a novel justification for the two-state solution Wednesday night, suggesting that the frighteningly high levels of anti-Semitism among Palestinian Authority Arabs validated her support for a Palestinian state. Livni’s comments came during a town hall meeting in Boston on Wednesday night. The event, which drew some 1,000 people, was moderated by Dovid Efune, Editor-in-Chief of Algemeiner. Despite her ties to the Israeli nationalist camp, Livni has steadily moved towards the left since she entered politics...

As vote tallying came to a close Wednesday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party emerged as the clear victor in the Israeli election, besting the runner-up Zionist Union party headed by the Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog and his running mate, Tzipi Livni.

Claiming it could affect Herzog's chances of forming a government, his co-chair gives up rotation deal that brought them together. MK Tzipi Livni announced Monday that she has given up the rotation deal for prime minister she shared with Labor leader Yitzhak Herzog, which had been a key condition of Labor and Hatnua's merging. According to Livni, maintaining the rotation would constitute an obstacle to Herzog forming the next government. She stressed that the most important thing was to replace Binyamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister. Over the weekend, Herzog and Livni dropped hints that they were ready to waive the...

"The historic announcement of Livni and Herzog marks new lows in terms of broken promises," MK Yariv Levin (Likud) stated Monday night. "If, until today, we had grown accustomed to the Left breaking its promises after elections, now these promises are being broken even before the polls open." "Whoever can't handle the stress of the night before elections is not able to handle the day-to-day stresses of premiership," he added. "Now it is absolutely clear that there is only one suitable candidate for Prime Minister - Binyamin Netanyahu - and that only one party fulfills its promises: Likud." "Livni's misstep...

Zionist Union’s No. 2 drops bombshell 12 hours before election; Netanyahu, Herzog accuse each other of ‘panicking’. The Zionist Union’s Tzipi Livni announced Monday evening that she would give up the rotation of the premiership with the slate’s leader, Isaac Herzog, an agreement the two made months ago when her Hatnua party merged with his Labor Party. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign up! In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the party was “panicking,” while Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett...

Netanyahu urges nationalists to vote Likud, stave-off leftist gov't of 'submission and capitulation'; 'they'll retreat along every front.' Ahead of tonight's major nationalist rally in Tel Aviv, and just two days before general elections, Prime Minister and Likud party leader Binyamin Netanyahu spoke exclusively in English to Arutz Sheva, and appealed to right-wing voters to cast their ballots for Likud - saying only his party could prevent the establishment of a leftist government which would be essentially controlled by outside powers. "The possibility is that if we don't close the gap between Labor and Likud, then Buji [Yitzhak Herzog] and...

Former Justice Minister Tzipi Livni insisted that she turned to US Secretary of State John Kerry and urged him not to allow the Palestinian Authority (PA) draft resolution to go to vote before elections "with Israel's interests in mind" during a Channel 10 interview Saturday night. "I turned to Kerry to safeguard the interests of the State of Israel, to prevent the world's coercion of Palestinian demands on Israel," Livni insisted. "I'm glad I did it and I'm glad that things I do have an impact on the world, what can not be said about Prime Minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu." Livni...

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni on Wednesday said that Israeli society is becoming more and more right-wing and religious. Speaking at a conference of the leadership of the Kibbutz movement, Livni said that while she served as foreign minister, one of her colleagues told her that in the past there were only a few countries that were not sympathetic to Israel, but in the present there are only two or three European countries that are still ready to stand up for Israel, but are finding it difficult to do so...

Justice Minister tells US secretary of state that his one week truce proposal would strengthen extremists in region. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (Hatnua) told US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday that his proposal for a week long cease-fire of Israel's Gaza campaign was "completely unacceptable" and that it "would have strengthened extremists in the region." The justice minister told Israel Radio on Sunday that over the course of the day on Friday, Kerry's proposal had improved. By Friday afternoon, just before Shabbat, the security cabinet unanimously rejected Kerry's proposal which the ministers believed did not sufficiently ensure either...

As polls show strong support for Jewish Home among the electorate – and rapidly slipping support among voters for her Hatnua party – Justice Minister Tzippy Livni said Thursday that as far as she was concerned, the party headed by Nafatali Bennett had no place in the coalition. “Jewish Home is a party based on deep ideological and religious ideas which will never allow Israel to sign a peace treaty with the Palestinians,” Livni said. “They have no place in the government.” ..... A new poll released Monday shows that if elections were held today, Jewish Home would get 19...

Left-wing justice minister says IDF operation in Gaza is "unavoidable"; Kerry meets Egyptian leaders in Cairo in attempt to forge resolution to conflict between Israel, Hamas. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni dismissed on Tuesday the possibility of an imminent halt in fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, adding that the IDF ground incursion in the Strip was impossible to avoid. Related: • US, UN pushing hard for immediate cease-fire in Gaza "There is no real option for a cease-fire now. This operation is unavoidable," the left-wing minister told Army Radio. "Hamas is not close to a cease-fire in terms of...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu distanced himself from the meeting last Thursday in London, held between Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, stating that Livni represented only herself. Livni, who was chief negotiator for Israel in the talks that failed after the PA unity deal with Hamas last month, told Netanyahu about the meeting last week two days before it took place. Sources in the prime minister’s office said Saturday night that Netanyahu made it clear to Livni that she would be representing only herself, and not the Israeli government. …

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni will meet on Tuesday with representatives of the Almagor terror victims’ organization. The meeting comes ahead of the next scheduled release of terrorists as a “gesture” the Palestinian Authority (PA). Lt. Col. (ret.) Oren Tamam, brother of Moshe Tamam who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists, said on Monday that the meeting was finally scheduled after months of repeated requests. “We're going with a broken heart and hopefully she will listen to us willingly,” said Tamam, adding, "The past few months have created among us a distrust in the justice system for which she is responsible,...

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni sharply criticized Economics Minister Naftali Bennett Monday, after the Jewish Home party leader remarked at a faction meeting that a Palestinian state would "crush" the Israeli economy. "The Economics Minister must decide if he represents the Israeli people, or just the residents of isolated settlements," Livni insisted. "In these trying times, when both left-wing and right-wing businessmen are deeply concerned about the future of the Israeli economy, the person in charge of that economy actually prefers to listen to extremist Rabbis," Livni claimed. "The role of a responsible, Zionist leader is not to side with policies...

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is heading the Israeli team for peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, said Sunday that Israel should ignore the terrorists who carried out the bus bombing in Bat Yam and continue with the peace process. Livni, who spoke at a special conference marking Quality Government Day, said that the Palestinian Authority with whom she is negotiating is not behind the terror attack. "Those who tried to harm us today are not those with whom we are conducting or will conduct negotiations," she insisted. “We will not allow criminal terrorists to determine Israel's future. Israel continues...

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni appealed a bill declaring donations to anti-Israel non-governmental organizations from foreign governments no longer exempt from tax, after it was approved by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday. Eight ministers from Likud, Yisrael Beytenu and Bayit Yehudi approved the bill in the ministerial committee, while Hatnua and Yesh Atid ministers voted against it. The legislation proposed by Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman Ayelet Shaked and MK Robert Ilatov (Likud Beytenu) amends the Income Tax Law so that NGOs will have to pay 45 percent tax on donations from foreign governments if the organization or members of...

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni warned on Monday that Israel runs the risk of a European economic boycott if it fails to advance peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. "You cannot deal only with economic issues and ignore the political issue and the importance of a two-state solution," she told delegates at an accountancy conference in Eilat, according to AFP. "Europe is boycotting products. And, true, it is starting with the settlements but their problem is with Israel, which is perceived as a colonial state, so it won't only stop with the settlements, but will (reach) Israel as a whole," warned...

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni fears the potential disaster facing Israel if nothing is done to combat the European boycott of Israeli goods, she told an accountant's conference in Eilat on Monday. "If we do not take action regarding the European boycott of goods coming from the settlement areas, the boycott will eventually extend to all of Israel," Livni warned. Livni claimed that some European countries see Israel as a colonizing nation, and this has affected economic relations with those countries. Recently the fast food chain McDonald's made headlines for refusing to allow its restaurant to be built in an up-and-coming...

Delaying the so-called “two-state solution” is an historical mistake, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni claimed on Monday. Livni, who is in charge of the peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, spoke at the American Jewish Committee 2013 Global Forum in Washington, D.C. She warned in her speech of “devastating consequences” for Israel in case U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s latest attempt to renew peace talks fails. “Time is working against those who believe that two states is the only Zionist way to maintain our identity,” Livni said. “There are those who want to postpone this decision, but it would be...