Livni and PA's Qureia in 'peace talks'
Livni and PA's Qureia in 'peace talks'Israel news photo: Flash 90

Newsweek’s third annual list of 150 “fearless women” who “shake the world” includes Opposition leader Tzipi Livni.

The magazine said its list notes “remarkable women leaders and activists from around the globe,” including “brave dissidents who fueled the Arab Spring to outspoken advocates fighting domestic slavery [and] from CEOs to artists to political influencers.”

Livni will appear at Newsweek’s three-day event  “to showcase women who are battling the status quo, picking up the pieces in the aftermath of war and shattering glass ceilings.” She will talk to historian Simon Schama about “Israel on the brink.”

The magazine explained it selected Livni, the only Israeli on the list, because she is “the first female opposition leader in Israel’s history” and is “a former lawyer known for her honesty and integrity.”

She also was cited for being a “steadfast proponent of the peace process.”  

Livni is chairman of Kadima party and inherited the position of interim Prime Minister after Ehud Olmert was forced to resign following a long list of scandals, some of which now are hanging over his head in court.

She led the party to one-seat-margin victory over the Likud in the ensuing general elections but failed to put together a majority coalition, leaving the task for now Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, head of the Likud.

Kadima’s popularity has sunk under her leadership, and polls indicate that it will be one of the smallest parties in the next Knesset. However, her position of Opposition leader has gained her a favorable spot in mainstream media, most of which consider Prime Minister Netanyahu a “right winger” and an obstacle to the “peace process.”

Livni told Army Radio Tuesday that her inclusion is a “personal compliment” and added, “It is good that the list features an Israeli woman.”

Other women on the list include U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, singer Lady Gaga, Mexican Attorney General Marisa Morales, Yemeni Nobel peace prize laureate Tawakkol Karman, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Marie Colvin, the American journalist who was killed by Syrian forces last week while covering the rebellion against Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The list includes five women from Egypt and six from Iran.