Hatnuah (Tzipi Livni Party)
Hatnuah / Hatnua / Hatenua ("The Movement", aka Hatenua) was established in late 2012 by former Kadima leader Tzipi Livni, in advance of the elections for the 19th Knesset. Earlier in 2012, Livni lost her bid to head Kadima to Shaul Mofaz in the Kadima primaries. Shortly thereafter, she resigned from the Knesset. Her hiatus from politics, however, did not last long, and after a period of deliberation, she decided to run for the 19th Knesset at the head of a new party called "Hatnua." During the election campaign, the party emphasized the diplomatic issue, and positioned itself as the central political power that will push for renewing the peace process with the Palestinian people.
Born to senior members of the Irgun paramilitary organization, Livni rose through the ranks in the Likud, Livni was first elected to the Knesset in 1999 representing the Likud. She split from the party along with former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2005 to form the Kadima party serving as Minister for Foreign Affairs. Ever since, she has cycled through a number of political parties. After Prime Minister Ehud Olmert left politics to stand trial for corruption, she nearly succeeded him but failed to form a coalition. Livni served as Justice Minister in Netanyahu's government in 2013/14 but was fired by Netanyahu along with Finance Minister Yair Lapid for allegedly "undermining" the government, in a crisis that led to the 2015 elections.
Tzipi Livni is perceived as a secular Tel Avivian. Throughout her political career spanning two decades, Hatnuah leader MK Tzipi Livni has frequently caused the ire of the Knesset's religious parties. Since leaving the Likud party in 2005, Livni has made a long stream of "anti-religious" statements and has consistently voted in favor of legislation that would erode the status-quo regulating Judaism's place in the public sphere. But she is more connected to Jewish ritual observance than previously thought. Livni regularly attended synagogue and eats only Kosher food.
. Livni served as a member of the Israeli National Security Cabinet, as a member of the security “Trio,” and as Israel’s chief negotiator for peace between Israel and the Palestinians during the last two rounds of negotiations in 2008 and 2013.
A significant confrontation occurred 30 October 2013 between HaBayit HaYehudi and Hatenua, both members of the coalition. MK Amram Mitzna (Hatenua) raised a motion which dealt with the expression of opposition by MKs from HaBayit HaYehudi to freeing prisoners and Justice Minister MK Tzipi Livni. He called the MKs from HaBayit HaYehudi ”irrational” and ”messianic”. He accused Rav Dov Lior from Kiryat Arba of being an evangelist and a firebrand. These statements angered MKs from HaBayit HaYehudi, some of who left the plenum. MK Ayelet Shaked (HaBayit HaYehudi) said that every action of HaBayit HaYehudi has been democratic and the MK Mitzna has been conducting a campaign of incitement against HaBayit HaYehudi for the last 3 years.
The Minister for Senior Citizens, MK Uri Orbach, said that Hatenua is known for ”false alarms” of incitement and said ”if there isn`t a songbird around than even a raven can sing”. He emphasized that it’s the public`s right to oppose. He also said that he was saddened that Hatenua was created. ”Hatenua is a storage facility for spare parts, a refugee camp.” MK Yitzhak Cohen from Shas accused HaBayit HaYehudi of hypocrisy.
Before the 2015 elections, Hatnua joined the Labor Party and ran in a joint list under the name Zionist Union. The joint list came second in the elections (24 seats), but the cooperation came to an end before the next elections in 2019. Following weak public support Livni announced that the party will not run in these elections. She was axed from a union with the Labor party by faction head Avi Gabbay. Since the dissolving of the Zionist Union, Livni’s Hatnuah faction struggled in the polls, failing in most of them to cross the 3.25% electoral threshold required to enter the Knesset.
Livni's Hatnuah party had been unable to form alliances but Benny Gantz's Israel Resilience Party was in advance talks to form a joint list with Orly Levy-Abekasis's Gesher party.
The House Committee, chaired by MK Miki Zohar (Likud), approved on 02 January 2019 the request submitted by the Zionist Union parliamentary group to break away from the Hatenua parliamentary group Chaired by Tzipi Livni. In accordance with the agreement signed between the Labor and Hatenua parties on the eve of the elections for the 20th Knesset, the Israel Labor Party will be represented in the Knesset by the Labor parliamentary group, consisting of 18 MKs. The Hatenua party will be represented in the Knesset by the Hatenua parliamentary group, consisting of six MKs.
MK Tzipi Livni announced 18 February 2019 that she won't be standing in the upcoming Knesset elections. In bowing out of the political race, she launched an attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "I was first elected to the Knesset 20 years ago in the Jewish State, where there is equality for everyone. I have kept my Zionist values and I worked to protect the Jewish majority and consolidate recognition of us as the Jewish State. Separating peacefully from the Palestinians is necessary if we are to maintain our identity and our values." But she added, "Peace has become a vulgar word and democracy is under attack. Attempts to separate from the Palestinians have been replaced by notions of annexation that will lead to a Palestinian majority. The ruler has taken control of justice, and he attacks the free press, the law and legal enforcement system."
After Livni's retirement from politics in 2019 she became a Fisher Family Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. Livn warned that Bibi's incoming government would “destroy Israeli democracy.” Livni said 24 December 2022 in a Channel 12 news interview. “The new government is not only advancing a worldview that is opposed to mine… but is advancing the destruction of democracy... The majority of the public voted for this government. But the idea that the majority can do whatever it wants is not democratic,” she said.
“The majority can’t decide that the next elections will be in 10 years instead of four, and the public can’t decide that the police will be political, and the public can’t decide to abolish the courts, and can’t decide that if the government is harming me, I’ll have nobody to turn to,” Livni said. “In a democracy, the majority gets to choose, but there are boundaries and restrictions, and we need to fight for this,” she added.
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