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The new Goldas

As always, Gideon Levy, writing his regular op-ed piece in Haaretz, is on the money:

"They are both modern women, successful in their fields, well-dressed, born in Israel, both speak fluid, unaccented Hebrew, they look Israeli and up-to-date. And here's the surprise: Golda Meir, the undeniable symbol of the founders' generation and of an anachronistic Israel, who we thought we were well rid of, speaks from their mouths.

As if 40 years hadn't come and gone, as if fashion hadn't changed. Tzipi Livni and Limor Livnat still wear "Golda's shoes." How embarrassing. Foreign Minister Livni says "the Palestinians will be able to celebrate independence only once the word nakba has been erased from their lexicon, while former education minister Livnat wants Arabic revoked as an official state language. The heirs of the one who said that "there were no such thing as Palestinians" have forgotten everything - and learned nothing. They are with us here, her typical pupils, one even striving to become prime minister, an ambition that could be fulfilled soon.

The nationalist, sovereign, condescending and scandalous statements emerged this week from the mouths of these two women. The disappointment is particularly bitter. We have become accustomed to such statements from several men in Israeli politics, but women? The ones who are supposed to provide a breakthrough? A new agenda? The hopes of those who believed women, free of Israeli machismo and militarism (the source of so many disasters), could bear new tidings have been instantly dashed. The Spanish defense minister, Carme Chacon, reviews honor guards while heavily pregnant, visits troops under her command in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Lebanon, accompanied by an obstetrician - a nice visual symbol of the feminist revolution - but in Israel we are still stuck with the same old Goldas. Discouraging news."

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