Tzipi Tziporah Malka Livni is a prominent Israeli politician. A former Foreign Minister of Israel, she is the incumbent Leader of the Opposition, a member of the Knesset for the Zionist Union, and leads the Hatnuah party.
Widely considered the most powerful woman in Israel since Golda Meir, Livni has served in eight different cabinet positions throughout her career, setting the record for most government roles held by an Israeli woman. Consequently, she has achieved a number of milestones in Israeli government, as the first female Vice Prime Minister, Justice Minister, Agriculture Minister, and Housing Minister.
In 2011, she was named one of "150 Women Who Shake the World" by Newsweek and The Daily Beast. From 2006 to 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Livni on its List of 100 Most Powerful Women three years in row, while Time included her in its 2007 "Time 100," for which U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice penned an op-ed. In Israel, Livni has earned a reputation as an honest politician who sticks to her principles.Born to a prominent right-wing, revisionist Zionist family, Livni has become one of Israel's leading voices in support of a two-state solution—one that ensures Israel's security and identity as a Jewish and democratic state.From 2001 to 2009, Livni served in the cabinets of Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert, most notably as Israel's Foreign Minister, during which time she led multiple rounds of peace talks with the Palestinians. In September 2008, Livni prepared to take office as Prime Minister of Israel, but the political climate in the country prevented her from forming a government. The following year, she led her party to win a plurality of seats in the Knesset, but was again blocked from becoming prime minister, due to the rightist parties' majority in the Knesset. Consequently, she served as Leader of the Opposition from 2009, until her resignation from the Knesset in 2012.Later that year, Livni founded a new party, Hatnuah, to compete in the 2013 elections, after which she was appointed Justice Minister in the Thirty-third government of Israel, again leading a new round of Israeli–Palestinian peace talks. In December 2014, a number of policy disputes within the government led Benjamin Netanyahu to dismiss Livni from his cabinet and call new elections. In the 2015 election, Livni joined forces with Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog to create the Zionist Union, a unified bloc of their two parties.
On 11 February 2017, it was reported that UN Secretary-General António Guterres had offered Livni the post of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. Livni would be the first Israeli to serve in such a senior position at the organization.
Haaretz, 16 May, 2011. http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/livni-netanyahu-is-too-weak-to-prevent-unilateral-declaration-of-palestinian-state-1.362151
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