Top 10 Facts About Tzipi Livni

Top 10 Facts About Tzipi  Livni

Tzipi Livni at the World Economic Conference. PHOTO BY; Yoshiko Kusano. WIKIMEDIA

Tzipi Livin’s birth name is Tziporah Malka. She was born on 8 July 1958 in Tel Aviv, Israel. She is the daughter of the late Eitan and Sara Livni.

Both of her parents were prominent former Irgun members. Her father, Eitan Livni served as the chief operations officer of the Irgun.

Tzipi Livni is a known Israel politician, diplomat and lawyer. She is also considered the most powerful and respected woman in Israel due to her well-established achievements in the Israeli government.

Livni has served in several ministerial positions in the government of Israel such as Minister of foreign affairs, Minister of regional co-operations, Minister of Immigrant Absorption, Minister of housing and construction and Minister of Agriculture. She was also the leader of the opposition.

Below, we learn the top 10 interesting facts about Livni.

1. Livni Was Born Into a Prominent Family

Livni was born and raised in an established family in Israel. Both of her parents Eitan and Sara Livni were members of the Irgun. This was a right- Wing Jewish nationalist underground organisation that was against the British Mandate in Palestine before the establishment of the state of Israel.

Her father served as the operational chief of the Irgun. He was a member of Menachem Begins Herut Party.

Her brother who was named after their father, Eitan, also works in politics as a member of the Likud party.

2. She is a Lawyer by Profession

43rd Munich Security Conference 2007: The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Justice of Israel, Tzipi Livni, during her speech. PHOTO BY; Antje Wildgrube. WIKIMEDIA

In 1984, Livni graduated from Bar-Ilan University faculty of law with an L.LB.

She later practised law in a private firm for 10 years whereby she specialized in public law, commercial law and real Estate law. Eventually, she joined public life in 1996 and began her career in the Israeli government.

3. Livni’s Career in the Military service

Livni served in the Israel Defence Force and attained the rank of Lieutenant. She, later on, joined the University of Bar-Ilan where she began studying law.

However, she decided to suspend her studies and joined the Mossad where she served from 1980 to 1984. The Mossad is the national intelligence agency of Israel.

4. She was the Second female Foreign Minister of Israel

Israel Opposition Leader, Tzipi Livni and the Hungarian Prime Minister, Gordon_Bajnai, Jerusalem. WIKIMEDIA

In 2006, Tzipi Livni was appointed as Israel’s foreign minister. She served in the cabinet of Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert.

As the Foreign Minister of Israel, she was in charge of negotiations with the Palestinians Authority. She held this position until 2009.

5. She was The first Woman Deputy Prime Minister

Tzipi Livni was the first woman to be appointed as the deputy minister of Israel.

She was appointed as the deputy prime minister on 4 May 2001, this was during the swearing-in of the 31^st Government of Israel. She also retained the position of Foreign Minister in the 31^st Government.

6. She Established Kadima and Hatnual Party

Tzipi Livni. WIKIMEDIA

During her political journey, Tzipi Livni formed two parties. On 20 November 2005, she formed the Kadina party with Sharon and Ehud Olmert.

In the selection of the candidates for the March 2006 Knesset election, she was awarded the number 3 position on the Kadima’s list of candidates, which effectively guaranteed her election to the Knesset.

On 27 November 2012, she established the Hatnul party, also known as the movement. She was joined and supported by seven Members of Knesset from the Kadima party and the former labour leaders Amram Mitzna and Amir Peretz.

During the 2013 elections in Israel, she led the Halnuah party, as the first of several parties to agree on a new coalition under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in forming the Thirty-third government of Israel.

She was appointed as the justice minister in the Thirty-third government. Her role as the justice minister was to lead Israel-Palestinian peace talks. However, In December 2014 she was dismissed as the minister of justice by Benjamin Netanyahu due to several policy disputes within the government.

7. She is the First Female Leader of The Opposition in Israel

She is the first female leader of the opposition government of Israel. During the 2009 Israel Elections, she took the Kadima party in the opposition after winning most of the seats but it was unfortunate that they could not form a government coalition within the Knesset.

She also served as the head of the opposition in 2015. This was after the Hatnuah merged with Isaac Herzog’s labour party and formed the Zionist Union. The main of the collaboration was to overtake the prime minister’s power.

However, the Zionist union failed to overtake Netanyahu’s Likud in the 2015 elections. While in the opposition Government, she opposed Netanyahu’s land reform bill.

On 19 January 2019, the Zionist union collapsed it was announced that the labour party would not run the Israel legislative election with Hatnuah. Livni retired from politics and withdraw the Hatnuah party from the election.

8. Livni UK Arrest Warrants

On December 12 2009, Livni received an arrest warrant from the British court which was applied by lawyers who were acting for the Palestinian victims of Operation Cast Lead.

The major reason why Livni was granted the UK arrest warrant is because of Hervrole in Israel’s war against Hamas-run Gaza.

The arrest warrant was dismissed on 14^th December 2009 when Livni failed to visit British territory. Later, prime minister Gordon Brown expressed his apologies to Livni over the warrant and assured her that she is always welcome in Britain.

Gordon Brown also assured Livni that he will seek Legislative changes to ensure that no Israeli official would risk arrest while on British soil.

9. The Awards and Honours Livni Got

TZIPI LIVNI. WIKIMEDIA

In 2004, she received the knight of quality government. This was an award for her trustworthiness and proficiency while serving her country especially in supporting new immigrants to Israel.

In 2009, she was honoured as a Chubb fellow by Tale University. During the year, Livni was also awarded to the International Hall of Fame by the International Women’s Force. In 2018, she also got the Golden Arrow Award.

10. Livni Played a Major Role in Peace Keeping Between Israel and Palestine

When she was a foreign minister of Israel, Livni led multiple rounds of peace talks with Palestinians. In 2013 under the 33^rd government, she was appointed as the justice minister.

Livni again led another round of peace talks between Israel and Palestine.

Tzipi Livni is ranked among the most influential women in the world today with the honours and attributes she holds. She has always been described to have a reputation for an unusual level of integrity and honesty in Israel’s leadership.