Tzipi Livni
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]
Tzipi Livni
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]
Early life and education[edit]
Born in Tel Aviv,[16] Livni is the daughter of Eitan Livni (born in Poland) and Sara (née Rosenberg), both prominent former Irgun members.[17] After Israel's independence, Eitan and Sara Livni became the first couple to marry in the newfound country.[18][2] Her father served as the chief operations officer of the Irgun.
As a child, Livni was a member of the Betar youth movement and played basketball for Elitzur Tel Aviv.[19] Growing up in an Israel dominated by the Labour Party, Livni says she felt marginalized, believing that the establishment had minimized her parents' contribution to Israel's founding.[20] Despite the hard-line image of the Irgun, she says her parents had respect for the Arabs[20] and acted only against the British army, not civilians.[21]
During the 1984 Likud primaries, her father, who had served in the Knesset for Herut and Likud as a moderate,[14] did not campaign for a seat in the Knesset, and urged party members to support a Druze candidate instead because he thought it important for Likud to have Arab representation.[20]
IDF service and Mossad[edit]
Livni served in the IDF, attaining the rank of Lieutenant.[22] Livni began studying law at Bar-Ilan University in 1979, but suspended her law studies when she joined the Mossad in 1980. She served in the Mossad from 1980 to 1984, between the ages of 22 and 26. According to an interview in Yedioth Ahronoth described in The Sunday Times, she served in the elite unit responsible for the assassinations following the Munich massacre.[23] She resigned from the Mossad in August 1984 to marry and finish her law studies.[24]
Education, family, and legal career[edit]
Livni graduated with an LL.B. from Bar-Ilan University's Faculty of Law in 1984. She practiced at a private firm for about ten years, specializing in commercial law, public law, and real estate law, before entering public life in 1996.[4][25]
Livni resides in Ramat HaHayal, Tel Aviv.[26] She is married to advertising executive Naftali Spitzer, and the couple have two children, Omri (born 1987) and Yuval (born 1990). Spitzer, who was raised in a Mapai-supporting family but switched to Likud in 1996, has gone on to support his wife's political career from the start in the 1990s.[27]
Livni is a vegetarian.[28] Besides her native language, Hebrew, Livni also speaks fluent English and French, having lived in Paris for a number of years.[4]
Livni's father, Eitan Livni, a Herut member of Knesset, died in 1991. Her mother, Sara, who died in 2007, stood by Livni's decision to leave Likud and also accepted her support for the two-state solution, although it "hurt her."[18][20]
Post-Knesset career[edit]
In September 2019, Livni was named a Fisher Family Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School.[116]
Livni lauded Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 United States presidential election, stating that Biden is committed to democratic principles and that his election is "a blessing" for the United States, Israel, and the rest of the free world.[117]
In a May 2024 interview, Livni called on the Israeli government to plan for the postwar governance of Gaza after the resolution of the Israel-Hamas war and warned that delays in engaging with Arab partners such as the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia could be a costly mistake.[118]