JERUSALEM — First there was the “healing through laughter” seminar. Then “Orit the Carpenter,” sort of a lesbian Martha Stewart, took the microphone and yelled: “We have seen our share of candidates over the years … all oozing testosterone and ego. But I have news for them: We, the woman, can do this!”
Later, transsexual pop star Dana International performed a bouncy disco song and announced, “I now formally invite you to the Diva Sisterhood.”
Cue the candidate: Tzipi Livni entered the room to a rapturous reception; working the crowd and accepting hugs and air kisses from the nearly 1,000 supporters (90 percent female) attending a “campaign happening for women” in Jerusalem.
As Livni heads toward Tuesday’s national election for prime minister, she is reshaping the centrist Kadima Party in her image, reaching out to female and far-left voters who never supported the party founded by gruff former Gen. Ariel Sharon.
Livni is working to retain Kadima’s base while leapfrogging over the traditionally leftist Labor party and attracting voters further left on the political spectrum.
With the latest polls showing her narrowly trailing hawkish Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, Livni is honing an image that seeks to combine strength and decisiveness, a distinctly girl-power vibe — and a dose of Barack Obama-styled hope and change rhetoric.
“She’s growing into the role and adapting the party to her personality,” said Edna Mazya, an Israeli playwright and a prominent member of Israel’s leftist political establishment.
Mazya described herself as a longtime supporter of the far-left party Meretz. But this time she’s voting for Livni, hoping to stave off a right-wing tilt under Netanyahu and ascendant hard-liner Avigdor Lieberman.
At stake could be the future of the regional peace process that has been named a top priority for the new Obama administration. Livni has portrayed herself as the only candidate who can deliver a negotiated peace with the Palestinians: Netanyahu says the time is not right for so-called final status negotiations, while Lieberman openly opposes an independent Palestinian state.
“You’re not voting for someone, you’re voting against those who you don’t want in power,” said Henriette Dahan-Kalev, director of Gender Studies at Ben-Gurion University, who described Livni as a potential “default vote” for large segments of the Israeli left.
Despite years on the national political scene, Livni has never had to define herself on this large a stage.
She rose to public prominence as a protege of the larger-than-life Sharon and followed him from Likud when he formed Kadima. When a series of strokes incapacitated Sharon, she emerged as a lieutenant and sometime-rival to his successor, Ehud Olmert. The recent Israeli offensive in Gaza was conducted jointly by Livni, Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who heads the distant-third-place Labor Party.
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As a civilian female competing with Netanyahu and Barak, both former generals, Livni consistently talks tough on security. She generally minimizes the significance of her sex, portraying herself as a capable wartime leader.
But at Friday’s female-targeted event, Livni displayed a different side. Her speech mentioned security issues only in passing and focused on the need for hope, optimism and a better country for Israel’s children.
“I will not allow people here to live in desperation, and without any hope for peace,” she said.
Livni’s recent push hasn’t gone unnoticed by her rivals. A recent Likud TV ad appealed to female voters and pointed out her record on issues including parliament votes against expanding alimony payments, extending maternity leave, and child care compensation for working mothers.
A longtime follower of Livni’s political career, Dahan-Kalev said she doubted whether Livni could tap the female voting bloc.
Livni was “never really interested in gender issues,” she said. “She’s too late. She missed the train.”
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Tzipi Livni
Age: 50
Professional: Israeli foreign minister. Former corporate attorney. Worked at the Mossad spy agency 1980-84.
Personal: Married, 2 children