Tzipi Livni
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tzipi Livni | |
|---|---|
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| Date of birth | 8 July 1958 |
| Knesset(s) | 15th, 16th, 17th (current) |
| Party | Kadima |
| Former parties | Likud |
| Gov't roles (current in bold) |
Acting Prime Minister Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Justice Minister of Regional Cooperation Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development Minister without Portfolio Minister of Immigrant Absorption Minister of Housing & Construction |
Tzipora Malka "Tzipi" Livni (Hebrew: ציפורה מלכּה "ציפי" לבני, born July 8, 1958 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is Foreign Affairs Minister, Acting Prime Minister of Israel, and a leading member of the Kadima party.[1][2]
After the March 2006 Knesset election, Livni was described as "the second most powerful politician in Israel."[3] Livni is the second woman in Israel to hold the post of foreign minister, after Golda Meir. In 2007, she was included in the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World.[4]
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[edit] Biography
Born in Tel Aviv,[5] Livni is the daughter of Eitan Livni and Sara Rosenberg, both prominent former Irgun members.[6] Tzipi Livni served as a lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces and worked for the Mossad for nearly two years during the early 1980s, resigning, because of pressure, in August 1983. It is rumored that she was a terrorist hunter for the Mossad. [7] A graduate of Bar Ilan University's Faculty of Law, she has 10 years experience as a practicing lawyer, specializing in public and commercial law.[8] Livni resides in Tel Aviv. She is married to accountant Naftali Spitzer ("Shpitzer") and has two children, Omri and Yuval. According to her childhood friend Mirla Gal, Livni is a vegetarian.[9] She has also helped pass a bill that bans animal abuse.[citation needed] Livni speaks Hebrew, English and French.
[edit] Political life
Livni was first elected to the Knesset as a member of the Likud party in 1999. When Likud leader Ariel Sharon became prime minister in July 2001, Livni was appointed Minister of Regional Cooperation, and thereafter held various Cabinet positions including Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Minister of Immigrant Absorption and Minister of Housing and Construction.[10] She received the Abirat Ha-Shilton ("Quality of Governance") award for 2004. On 1 October 2005, she was appointed Minister of Justice after several months acting in that position.[11]
In Sharon's Cabinet, Livni was an avid supporter of the prime minister's disengagement plan and was generally considered to be among the key dovish or moderate members of the Likud party. She often mediated between various elements inside the party, and gained recognition for her efforts to achieve peace, particular her successful efforts to have the pullout from the Gaza Strip ratified by the Knesset. On 12 November 2005, she became the first member of her party to speak at the official yearly commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination.
On November 20, 2005, Livni followed Sharon and Olmert into the new Kadima Party. Ahead of the 28 March elections Livni was appointed to be the new Foreign Minister, while continuing to serve as Justice Minister, as a result of the mass resignation of Likud Party members from the government. In the selection of candidates for the March 2006 Knesset election, Livni was awarded the number three position on Kadima's list of candidates, which effectively guaranteed her election to the Knesset.
On 4 May 2006, with the swearing-in of the 31st Government, Livni became Vice (or Deputy) Prime Minister and retained the position of Foreign Minster. She ceased serving as Justice Minister at that time, but again held that position from 29 November 2006 to 7 February 2007, while still serving in her primary role of Foreign Minister. With these appointments, Israel is one of the few countries in the world to have had more than one female foreign minister, and the only country in the Middle East to have seen a woman in a position of comparable power.
Livni became the first Israeli cabinet minister to explicitly differentiate Palestinian guerrilla attacks against Israeli military targets from terrorist attacks against civilians. In an interview on the US television news show Nightline, recorded on 28 March 2006, Livni stated:
"Somebody who is fighting against Israeli soldiers is an enemy and we will fight back, but I believe that this is not under the definition of terrorism, if the target is a soldier."
On March 11, 2007, Livni held secret meetings with two senior Palestinian leaders - Fatah's Yasser Abed Rabbo and former finance minister Salam Fayyad, who left Fatah to form the Third Way party. According to Israel Radio, Livni discussed possible future negotiations and the Arab initiative.
On May 2, 2007 Livni called for the resignation of Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in the wake of the publication of the Winograd Commission's interim report. She has offered herself as leader of the Kadima Party if Olmert decides to step down.[12] However, her call was ignored by Olmert and her decision to stay in the Cabinet sparked some controversy.[citation needed]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Silvan Shalom |
Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel 2006–Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Ehud Olmert |
Acting Prime Minister of Israel 2006–Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
[edit] References
- ^ Government 31 The Knesset
- ^ Kadima Party. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ Tzipi Livni Named Vice Premier in Israel. Washington Post. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ Condoleezza Rice. Tzipi Livni. Time. Retrieved on 2007-06-10.
- ^ Next in Line. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ News in Brief - Haaretz - Israel News
- ^ Terrorist Hunter. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.
- ^ Tzipi Livni Knesset Biography. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ Cohen, Roger (2007-07-07). Her Jewish State. New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-08-07. “Mirla Gal, who would reach the top of the Mossad during a 20-year career, met Livni in first grade. [...] “We were curious because her world wasn’t ours,” Gal said over lunch at a beachfront Tel Aviv restaurant. “Even then she was principled. When I was 12, she turned vegetarian and has been ever since.””
- ^ Tzipi Livni Government Roles. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
- ^ Behind the Lines: And who, may we ask, is Tzipi Livni? Jerusalem Post, Accessed 30 April 2007
- ^ Olmert's Survival Prospects Dim Amid Livni Challenge Bloomberg, May 3, 2007
[edit] External links
- Tzipi Livni on the official Knesset website (in English)
- BBC profile
- Livni's charm is gone, Eitan Haber, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3396286,00.html
- Tzipi Livni: terrorist-hunter secret of woman tipped to lead Israel, The Sunday Times 1/6/2008,
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Livni, Malka Tzipora |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Livni, Tzipi |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Israeli politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 8 July 1958 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tel Aviv, Israel |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
