Since the Kadima-led pullout from Gaza in 2005, Israelis have had little faith that withdrawal from occupation will achieve peace with the Palestinians. Since this divisive and traumatizing experience, Israelis have witnessed the election of terrorist group Hamas to the Palestinian Authority (which many attribute to the pullout, correctly or not) and the subsequent bombarding of their cities by Hamas militants. What was supposed to give Israel relief in the occupied territories has only moved enemies closer to the heartland.

Tzipi Livni was a heartening choice for Israel’s next Prime Minister. Livni is a supporter of a two-state solution and the creation, in theory, of a Palestinian state. Despite the Olmert government’s mistakes over the past three years, these are the only means of attaining true peace. So long as the Palestinian territories remain occupied, both the corrupt Fatah and the fanatical Hamas—two sides of the same militant, authoritarian political coin—will retain their legitimacy in Palestinian eyes. History proves that neither faction has been an effective partner in achieving peace with Israel and a better future for Palestinians. Until Palestinians have greater control over their fate, and thus the incentive to build up their democratic and civil institutions, they will remain in a state of dysfunction and penury. It is this failed state status that gives rise to Palestinian terrorist movements and the culture of glorification. Until this problem is fixed, Israel will never be able to coexist easily with its neighbour.

A two-state solution can’t be implemented immediately. It might be far more prudent to work with Palestinians in reforming their society before handing over full control of both the West Bank and Gaza Strip (and possibly shared control of Jerusalem) to any one political group. But when the time comes for statehood to be considered, Israel must be ready to give the Palestinians what they deserve. That Livni believes in this, and that she has demonstrated her competence as Foreign Affairs Minister, makes her the right person to restore Israeli faith in the ever-elusive but absolutely necessary two-state peace solution.