“The Palestine Papers”, the leaked documents published by The Guardian and al-Jazeera relating to the Israel-Palestine peace negotiations in 2007, portrayed the Palestinian representatives as submissive and craven before an arrogant Israeli leadership. But thanks to the utter unpredictability of the Middle East, the risible spin backfired.
Rather than undermining the West Bank leaders, the media slurs have left them more united than ever before. Another positive repercussion of the revelations has been to enhance the reputation of Tzipi Livni, the leader of Israel’s centrist Kadima (Forward) Party, and the only credible alternative to Benjamin Netanyahu and “Israel’s Milosevic”, the foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman.
The secret cables proved that she was an adept negotiator that an anxious Israeli public can rely upon. That respect extends to senior members of the Palestinian team who openly express admiration for her as the Israeli leader with whom they can do business.
“She is a tough negotiator but she tried to understand our problems,” one said. “She wants to reach an agreement – while I know Bibi (Netanyahu) doesn’t – she can deliver what should be delivered.”
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/juliankossoff/100075554/tzipi-livni-israels-last-chance-for-peace-with-the-palestinians/