Israeli Foreign Minister and Kadima (Forward) Party leader Tzipi Livin has stated that she will end her efforts to form a governing coalition in the Knesset and will ask President Shimon Peres to call for early election that will take place in 90 days. “Enough extortion. We’re going to elections,” Ms. Livin told the Jerusalem Post.

Ms. Livin narrowly won the Kadima party primary to succeed resigning Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is stepping down to fight corruption charges. After her victory, Ms. Livin was operating under a limited time frame to form a new government. She needed a majority in the 120 seat Knesset. Her Kadima party holds 29 seats. She was able to keep the 19-seat Labor party on board, but had less success bringing in other parties. The main obstacle to a governing majority was maintaining the inclusion of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party in the Kadima-led government. Shas refused to be part of the coalition when Ms. Livni refused to cede ground on welfare handouts and on the final status of Jerusalem with the Palestinians. Shas does not believe Jerusalem should be shared.

Although Ms. Livin has wooed other parties, including the left-wing Meretz party, in the end appeared that at best her governing majority would have been too slime to allow for effective governance. Ehud Barak, head of the Labor party, said Labor would have been reluctant to join the 63-seat coalition that Livin could have managed on the grounds that it could easily disintegrate and thus lead to future elections.

Elections do not necessarily bode well for Kadima and Ms. Livin. Polls show that the hawkish right-wing Likud party is favored to win. Such a victory would most likely bring on-going peace negotiations with the Palestinians to a stand still. Currently Ms. Livni is partly handling final-status negotiations with the Palestinians, she favors a two-state solution with a shared Jerusalem. Likud president Benyamin Netanyahu has yet to even accept the idea of a Palestinian state.

Although Israeli might presently tells pollsters they will support Mr. Netanyahu, Ms. Livni reputation for clean politics, something sorely lacking in Israel right now, and the fact that she would be Israel’s second female Prime Minister at the age of 51 might turn the election in her favor.

More importantly, Israelis consistently tell polls they favor a two-state solution; Ms. Livni will no doubt take her message of such a goal and impress upon Israelis the fact that Netanyahu opposes such a deal at a time when Israel cannot afford to forgo negotiations due to the fact that this might be the last time for a two-state solution.

By 2009-2010, Palestinians will outnumber Jews in mandatory Palestine for the first time since 1948. If this comes about with a two-state solution, Palestinians will start demanding, as they have already states, equal rights in a bi-national state. Thus ending the Jewish character of Israel.

For Israelis, the next election is more than about domestic concerns or just general negotiations with the Palestinians. It is about the future of Israel. The leader they choose will determine that future by the actions they take, or lack thereof, soon after the accession to power. It appears that only Ms. Livin can secure an Israeli future that is both Jewish and democratic.