Tsipi Livni

Last years I published a couple of articles featuring Tsipi Livni, Israel's foreign minister:

• Politics & Power in Israel
• Female Israeli Premier
• Politics in Israel

I would like to add another piece, this one written by Mira Bar-Hillel from the Evening Standard: "The woman who stands to gain from Gaza's misery"

"The war was preceded by an explosion of advertising hoardings, set up along the roadsides, banners across motorway bridges and countless flyers. The predominant image is that of Tsipi Livni, the foreign minister who may well be Israel's leader after the 10 February election.

The only woman to lead Israel was Golda Meir, prime minister in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She was described by a previous PM as having more balls than the men in his cabinet but she never held the crucial position of defence minister.

In committing herself so uncompromisingly to the Gaza operation, Livni may have answered critics who felt she would be weak on security but her fate is now inextricably bound up with the outcome of the onslaught on Hamas and the Palestinians.

Military and security considerations aside, Livni is already a strong contender for the prime minister's job. She comes from that generation of politicians known as Princes, whose families played a role in creating Israel's independence."