Livni: Everyone knows there will be two states in the end

MK Tzipi Livni(Zionist Union) spoke at the Herzliya conference Wednesday and discussed efforts to revive peace negotiations.

"If Trump wants to rectify Obama's mistakes - he should place his principles on the table. Not to force issues on the sides but to force them to take a decision. Netanyahu has no political problem if he says yes - there is an alternative coalition in Israel he could form, one which favors peace," claimed Livni.

She said that "the Palestinians are afraid of Trump and will remove all their preconditions for negotiations. Trump is an opportunity, nobody wants to say no to him. He defined a deal as his goal and he only needs to use the right choreography. To go to the Arabs and take a deposit of confidence-building steps if and when Israel shows enough seriousness. There's no need to reinvent the wheel."

Livni claimed that the present government is harming Israeli security. "Its time to raise the curtain and look what's behind this government: the deal between Jewish Home and the prime minister. They maintain the ideology which in their eyes justifies the crushing of basic principles, because democracy is a burden for those who wish to annex - so that they won't investigate and be brought to justice for their corruption.

"While our threats in the north are so severe, Israel cannot allow such a large part of its military power, which for security reasons I can't detail, to be deployed in Judea and Samaria. This security, allowing the Palestinians to build around the cities as the IDF recommends, will release the pressure and lessen terror," said Livni.

"They [the "settlers"] are a burden on the security of the state, they harm security, complicate the possibility of achieving peace. Every new construction is designed to prevent us from ever having the possibility of an agreement. In contrast to the "Wall and tower" ideology [1930s ideology of lightning construction of outposts to add to Jewish presence in strategic areas] these will not help us to establish borders, but will ruin the opportunity to establish them."

Regarding the political situation Livni said "the Labor party is about to have elections and of course I will not get involved. But it's important that whoever is chosen supports the creation of a strong political alliance. Somebody who understands that the Labor party cannot manage alone. This is the only way, this is what is needed to change the rudder of the boat. Herzog understood this in 2015, that this is what creates hope. Now we need a broad coalition. There are natural partners. A natural partner would be Kahlon, who only yesterday said what most of the Israeli public understands: In the end there will be two states here. He is the sole pragmatic voice in this government but not the only moderate leader in Israel. An alliance of moderate leaders is the hope and responsibility of everyone."