Tzipi Livni

MKs


Date of birth = Birth date and age|1958|7|8|df=y
Year of Aliyah =
Date of death =
Knesset(s) = 15th, 16th, 17th (current)
Party = Kadima
Former parties = Likud
Gov't roles = 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 ( _he. ציפורה מלכה "ציפי" לבני, born 8 July 1958 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is Foreign Affairs Minister and the designated Acting Prime Minister of Israel. [ [http://www.knesset.gov.il/govt/eng/GovtByNumber_eng.asp?govt=31 Government 31] The Knesset] [citeweb | url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Politics/sharonnewparty.html | title=Kadima Party | accessdate=2007-05-06]

On 17 September 2008, Livni was elected leader of the Kadima party, giving her the opportunity to seek to form a government that would gain support from a majority of the Knesset, Israel's parliament. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/world/middleeast/18israel.html?hp] [Cite news | id=issn|0362-4331 | last = Bronner | first = Ethan | title = Top Party in Israel Is Picking a Leader | work = The New York Times | accessdate = 2008-09-17 | date = 2008-09-18| url = http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/world/middleeast/18israel.html?em] If she succeeds in forming a government, Livni will become the second female Prime Minister of Israel, after Golda Meir.

Biography

Born in Tel Aviv, [citeweb | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article1733971.ece | title=Next in Line | publisher=Times (London) | accessdate=2007-05-06] Livni is the daughter of Eitan Livni (born in Poland) and Sara Rosenberg, both prominent former Irgun members. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/910716.html News in Brief] "Haaretz"] 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 in August 1983 to marry and finish her law studies. It was rumored that she was a terrorist hunter for the Mossad, [citeweb | url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article4040016.ece | title=Terrorist Hunter |publisher=Times (London) | accessdate=2008-06-02] but recent findings suggest that Livni was a low level agent. She was hired to live in a Paris apartment to maintain the appearance of a regular residential property. [citeweb | url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331060828&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull | title=Livni's past in Mossad not spectacular | publisher=Jerusalem Post |accessdate=2008-07-22] 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. [citeweb | url=http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=213 | title=Tzipi Livni Knesset Biography | publisher=Knesset| accessdate=2007-05-06] Livni resides in Tel Aviv; she is married to accountant Naftali Spitzer and has two children, Omri and Yuval. According to her childhood friend Mirla Gal, Livni is a vegetarian.cite web
url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/magazine/08livni-t.html?pagewanted=5&ei=5088&en=d8b4df055b5d201f&ex=1341547200&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
title = Her Jewish State
accessdate = 2007-08-07
last = Cohen
first = Roger
date = 2007-07-07
publisher = New York Times
quote = 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.”] Livni speaks Hebrew, English, and French.

Political career

Early career

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. [citeweb | url=http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=213 | title=Tzipi Livni Government Roles | accessdate=2007-05-06] 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. [ [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=2&cid=1173879210859&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Behind the Lines: And who, may we ask, is Tzipi Livni?] Jerusalem Post, Accessed 30 April 2007]

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, particularly her successful efforts to have the pullout from the Gaza Strip ratified by the Knesset. On 12 November 2005, she spoke at the official yearly commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination.Cite news
issn = 0362-4331
last = Cohen
first = Roger
title = Her Jewish State
work = The New York Times
accessdate = 2008-09-16
date = 2007-07-08
url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/magazine/08livni-t.html?pagewanted=8&_r=4&ref=magazine]

Joining Kadima

On 20 November 2005, Livni followed Sharon and Ehud 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.Cite news
last = Macintyre
first = Donald
title = Tzipi Livni: Agent of change
work = The Independent
accessdate = 2008-09-16
date = 2008-08-02
url = http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/tzipi-livni-agent-of-change-883276.html]

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.Cite web
title = Tzipi Livni (1958- )
work = Jewish Virtual Library
accessdate = 2008-09-16
url = http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/TLivni.html]

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 Minister. 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.

After the March 2006 Knesset election, Livni was described as "the second most powerful politician in Israel". [citeweb | url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/01/AR2006050100298.html | title=Tzipi Livni Named Vice Premier in Israel | accessdate=2007-04-30 | publisher=Washington Post] 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. [cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1615513_1614647,00.html|title=Tzipi Livni|author=Condoleezza Rice|publisher="Time"|accessdate=2007-06-10] "Forbes" ranked her the 52nd most powerful woman in the world. [http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/11/biz_powerwomen08_The-100-Most-Powerful-Women_Rank_3.html]

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." [Journal of International Criminal Justice Advance Access published online on December 15, 2006, Oxford University press, "The Multifaceted Criminal Notion of Terrorism in International Law" by Antonio Cassese]

In 2007, she met with Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, to discuss "improving the lives of the Palestinian people, without compromising Israel's security".Cite news
last = Benn
first = Aluf
title = Livni and Fayad meet, discuss improving Palestinians' lives
work = Haaretz
accessdate = 2008-09-16
date = 2007-07-08
url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/879606.html]

On 2 May 2007, Livni called for Olmert's resignation in the wake of the publication of the Winograd Commission's interim report. She offered herself as leader of Kadima if Olmert decides to step down, and asserted her confidence in her ability to defeat him in a party election should he decline. [ [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aDwuQBPHQP4Y&refer=home Olmert's Survival Prospects Dim Amid Livni Challenge] Bloomberg, May 3, 2007] Cite news | title = 'I have the qualifications to be PM' | work = Jerusalem Post | accessdate = 2008-07-29 | date = 2008-07-29 | url = http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331132203&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull] However, her call was ignored by Olmert and her decision to stay in the Cabinet sparked some controversy.Cite news | last = Verter | first = Yossi | coauthors = Mazal Mualem | title = PM Olmert to tell deputy Livni: Stop undermining me, or resign | work = Haaretz | accessdate = 2008-09-16 | date = 2007-05-02 | url = http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/854647.html]

Leadership of Kadima

In the Kadima leadership election of 17 September 2008, Olmert decided not to stand for re-election as party leader and stated he would resign as Prime Minister following the election. Livni and Shaul Mofaz emerged as the main rivals for the leadership.Cite news | last = Somfalvi | first = Attila | title = Poll: Livni beats Netanyahu, who beats Mofaz | work = Ynetnews | accessdate = 2008-08-02 | date = 2008-08-01 | url = http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3576298,00.html] Livni won the Kadima leadership election by a margin of just 431 votes (1%). [cite news |title=Livni to lead Israel ruling party |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7620215.stm |work=BBC News |date=2008-09-18 |accessdate=2008-09-18 ] [cite news |first=James |last=Hider |title=New Golda Meir’ Tzipi Livni wins election to be Prime Minister after extra time |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article4776486.ece |work=The Times |date=2008-09-27 |accessdate=2008-09-17]

Upon declaring victory in the leadership election, Livni said the "national responsibility (bestowed) by the public brings me to approach this job with great reverence". [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/18/2368042.htm?section=justin abc.net.au, Livni declared winner of Kadima election] ] [ [http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5h7aMMRdDcFu7Wyb9IYgLLO6EbS_w ukpress.google.com, Livni claims victory in Israel poll] ]

On 21 September 2008, Olmert formally resigned his office in a letter submitted to President Shimon Peres, and the following day Peres formally asked Livni to form a new government. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1023052.html Olmert formally submits his resignation to Peres] ] [ [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017351869&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Livni asked to form new government] ] Livni now faces tough negotiations with Kadima's current coalition partners, particularly the Shas party, which has set conditions for joining a Livni government. [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gpaFgsScGCQkoNcLiKKYr0N4fvIA google.com, Israel's Livni now in battle for premiership] ] [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1022140.html Shas: If Livni wants a coalition, she must fulfill our demands] ] [ [http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1023129.html Livni offers Barak 'full partnership' in new gov't] ] If Livni fails to form a coalition representing at least 61 votes in the Knesset within 42 days of her nomination by Peres, new elections will be called. [ [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aUghVUwt1Hms&refer=germany Coalition rejected by Netanyahu] ] Likud, the main opposition party, has been lobbying Shas and other parties seeking to bring about that result. [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1023102.html Netanyahu asks Shas to back bid for early general elections] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.tzipilivni.co.il Tzipi Livni's official website] he icon
* [http://imeu.net/news/article0014269.shtml Tzipi Livni on the Palestinian issue at IMEU.net]

Template group
title = Tzipi Livni
titlestyle = style="background:#eee;
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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=