Tzipi Livni

Tzipi Livni
ציפי לבני‎
Ministerial roles
2001Minister of Regional Cooperation
2001–2002Minister without Portfolio
2002–2003Minister of Agriculture
2003–2006Minister of Immigrant Absorption
2004–2005Minister of Housing and Construction
2006–2007Minister of Justice
2006–2009Minister of Foreign Affairs
2013–2014Minister of Justice
2013–2014Minister for the Promotion of the Diplomatic Process
Faction represented in the Knesset
1999–2005Likud
2005–2012Kadima
2013–2014Hatnua
2014–2019Zionist Union
2019Hatnua
Other roles
2009–2012Leader of the Opposition
2018–2019Leader of the Opposition
Personal details
Born (1958-07-08) 8 July 1958 (age 66)[1]
Tel Aviv, Israel
Signature

Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni (Hebrew: ציפי (ציפורה) מלכה לבני‎, pronounced [tsipoˈʁa malˈka ˈtsipi ˈlivni]; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former foreign minister, vice prime minister, minister of justice, and leader of the opposition. She is known by some for her efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[2]

Widely considered the most powerful woman in Israel since Golda Meir,[3][2] Livni has served in eight different cabinet positions throughout her career, setting the record for most government roles held by an Israeli woman.[4] She has been the first female Israeli vice prime minister, justice minister, agriculture minister, and housing minister. 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.[5][6] Among her supporters in Israel and in international media, Livni was given the nickname "Mrs. Clean" for her image as an "honest politician."[7][8][9][10][11][12]

From 2001 to 2009, Livni served in the cabinets of Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert, most notably as 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, 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.[13]

Later that year, Livni founded a new party, Hatnuah,[14] 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. In January 2019 Avi Gabay announced that Labor would not run with Hatnuah in the April 2019 Israeli legislative election. On 18 February 2019, following several weeks of poor poll results, Livni announced her retirement from politics as well as Hatnuah's withdrawal from the election.[15]

  1. ^ Tzipi Livni on the Knesset website
  2. ^ a b Senor, Daniel Senor; Livni, Tziporah Malka (5 June 2024). "The last Israeli to negotiate with the Palestinians - with Tzipi Livni (Part 1)". Call Me Back - with Dan Senor. Retrieved 5 June 2024. Tzipi Livni has served as a minister of eight different cabinet ministries under three prime ministers: Ariel Sharon, Ehud Olmert, and Benjamin Netanyahu. Her positions have included Justice Minister, Foreign Minister and Vice-Prime Minister. She has also been the official leader of the opposition. As foreign minister, Tzipi Livni led negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, she was a key government figure during Israel's disengagement from Gaza and during Hamas's subsequent takeover of Gaza. She was foreign minister during Israel's Second Lebanon War and during Israel's operation to take out Syria's nuclear reactor. She began her service as a member of the Likud Party, and then the Kadima Party, and later the Hatnua Party and Zionist Union. Earlier in her career, Tzipi served in the Mossad (including in the elite unit famous for being responsible for the assassinations following the Munich massacre). No major Israeli political figure has had more recent experience trying to negotiate a two-state solution than Tzipi Livni.
  3. ^ "Israel's foreign minister has edge in party race". Reuters. 1 August 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Knesset was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Profile: Tzipi Livni". BBC News. 27 November 2012. Archived from the original on 29 November 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  6. ^ Ethan Bronner, Main Party in Israeli Coalition Set to Pick Leader, The New York Times, 16 September 2008
  7. ^ "חדשות 2 – תכנית הילדים החדשה של ציפי לבני". Mako.co.il. 26 February 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  8. ^ Benny Morris (14 December 2008). "Israel's crisis of leadership". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014.
  9. ^ Westcott, Kathryn (2 May 2007). "Tzipi Livni: Israel's 'Mrs Clean'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  10. ^ "Livni, don't give in". Haaretz. 24 April 2009. Archived from the original on 1 April 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  11. ^ McGirk, Tim (5 June 2008). "Israel's Mrs. Clean". Time. Jerusalem. Archived from the original on 11 August 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  12. ^ Isabel Kershner (26 October 2008). "As Israeli Elections Are Called, Livni Is Assessed". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 September 2010.
  13. ^ "Seventeenth Knesset : Government 31". Knesset.gov.il. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  14. ^ "Israel election: Who are the key candidates?". BBC News. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
  15. ^ Wootliff, Raoul; staff, T. O. I. "Leaving politics, Livni warns this election may be last gasp of democracy". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 18 February 2019.