Speculation Over New Israeli PM

Syria is waiting to see what approach the new head of the Israeli government, Tzipi Livni, will take toward the current indirect peace talks between Syria and Israel.



On September 18, Livni was elected leader of the ruling Kadima party and is supposed to form a new government within 42 days. “We are waiting to hear what this dove will say after she becomes prime minister – and if she will stay a dove, as they call her in Israel – or if she will be turned into a hawk,” Issam Dari, editor-in-chief of the state-run newpaper Tishreen, wrote in the September 20 edition.



Livni, said Dari, is “the new iron woman of Israel” who from now on would take decisions about peace and war and decide about the future of the region. He described her as “qualified by Israeli standards”, having served in the military as well as the foreign intelligence service Mosad. Dari pointed out that she also had participated in “the assassination process of palestinian leaders”.



He wondered whether "the dove of Mossad" e really wanted to make peace, or if she would leave the region in a “not war, not peace status” of high tensions and instability.



"She knows what peace needs, and realises that the keyword for a fair and comprehensive peace is to give back all Arab lands to their owners.”