Livni will face Indira, Meir’s challenge

Tzipi Livni, the new leader of Kadima, Israel’s ruling party, is close to joining that very select club of women heads of government, says The Times. Ms Livni, Israel’s Foreign Minister, if she becomes her nation’s second woman prime minister, will face the security dilemmas that are not handled by the women leaders of Scandinavian or Antipodean countries.

Livni’s ascent must be cheered because she does not come from a dynasty like the Gandhi family or the Bhuttos. However, she may have to confront serious challenges in the male-dominated Middle East. “Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran will note her dovish commitment to the peace process with the Palestinians, which they reject in any case,” says Mark Almond, lecturer in History at Oriel College, Oxford, in the article.

Her stint will be watched with particular interest since women prime ministers have come under pressure from foreign enemies and domestic terrorists even before. “Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi and Golda Meir all rose to the top in even less female-friendly political environments than Israel today — though Ms Lipni certainly didn’t lack rivals who, during the Kadima leadership campaign, publicly doubted her capacity to direct the Israeli Defence Force,” says the story, adding that though Indira Gandhi owed her power base in the Congress Party to her father, she survived so long in office only because she took hard decisions. Like invading Bangladesh and suppressing the Sikh militants occupying the Golden Temple. “She had the courage to keep her Sikh bodyguards afterwards, but it was foolhardy, as her assassination showed,” says Almond.

In 1973, Israel’s first woman Prime Minister, Golda Meir, resisted her instinct to strike first against Syrzia. Result: she was forced into retirement when Egypt and Syria caught the Israelis napping on Yom Kippur. For Margaret Thatcher, the Falkands War was a risky affair, but she decided to send the task force only after admirals had assured her of the availability of forces.
Women PMs have a very important quality — unpredictability. That’s why foreign leaders should treat Livni with respect and do a cautious appraisal.