Limor Livnat

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Limor Livnat (help·info) (in Hebrew לימור לבנת) (born in Haifa, September 22, 1950) is an Israeli politician, member of the Knesset and former Cabinet minister.

A senior member of the Likud party, Livnat served as Minister of Education, Culture and Sport in Ariel Sharon's government before resigning on January 14, 2006. Her departure followed Sharon's formation of the new Kadima party, while Livnat remained in Likud and left the cabinet along with other Likud members. A resident of Tel Aviv, Livnat is married and has two children.

[edit] Political career

Livnat was first elected to the Knesset in 1992 and served, among other duties, as Chairperson of the Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women, the Subcommittee on Laws of Personal Status and the Parliamentary Committee for Investigating Murder of Women by their Spouses.

After Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1996, Livnat was appointed as Minister of Communications. During her term, she attempted to increase competition in the Israeli communications sector by weakening and privatizing Bezeq, the monopoly of Israel's wire telephony system.

Tensions between Livnat and Netanyahu climaxed in the former's resignation from government in 1997 and subsequent attempt to end Netanyahu's headship of the Likud. The two are widely regarded as major intra-party political rivals, as well as potential future leaders of the Likud.

Following Netanyahu's resignation from the Likud leadership (after failing to win the 1999 elections), Livnat supported Ariel Sharon's successful attempt to serve as the next chairperson of the party. After Sharon's victory over Ehud Barak in the 2001 elections, Livnat was appointed Minister of Education in both governments he formed.

Livnat has served as Vice Chairperson and Acting Chairperson of the World Likud Movement.

[edit] Personal Views

Although overtly secular, Livnat is generally identified as a right wing conservative, both morally and politically. A supporter of Revisionist Zionism, she ideologically opposed the Oslo Agreements as well as the notion of relinquishing control over the Palestinian Territories. In this light she has voiced concerns over US President George W Bush's Road Map for Peace. She also regularly attends events in honor of the pre-independence militant organizations, such as Etzel and Lehi.

However, Livnat did not actively oppose Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, namely the expected Israeli pull out from the Gaza Strip and northern parts of the West Bank in August-September, 2005.

Livnat's strong emphasis on national values and symbols is regarded as archaic by some Israelis. For instance, Eli Yatzpan, one of Israel's prominent comedians, is known for his parody of Livnat's demand that the National Anthem of Israel will be sung in the beginning of each school day.