Tzipi Livni

vice prime minister, Israel

Tzipi Livni currently serves as the Vice Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the State of Israel. The only other woman to hold this post was Golda Meir, who then went on to become Prime Minister. A leading member of the Kadima Party and a role model for women across the globe, Livni was named one of the 100 Most Influential People by *TIME Magazine* in 2007. Livni was born in Tel Aviv, the daughter of a prominent nationalist figure. Her father, Eitan Livni, led a Jewish underground movement against the British in Palestine, before Israel was founded in 1948. He went on to serve in the Knesset, as his daughter would after him. In the past, Livni has served as a lieutenant in the Israeli Defence Forces, worked for the Israeli Intelligence Agency Mossad, and practiced public and commercial law. Livni's political career began when she was elected to the Knesset in 1999. She filled several ministerial positions, working on immigrant absorption, housing and construction, agriculture, and regional development. In 2005, she was appointed Foreign Minister, but continued to serve as Justice Minister. She assumed the duties of Vice Prime Minister in 2006, and today she acts as deputy to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.