Limor Livnat

(Hebrew: לימור לבנת, born 22 September 1950) is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Likud, and as the country's Minister of Culture & Sport.

Biography

Born in Haifa, Livnat studied at Tel Aviv University before working in advertising.

She first entered the Knesset on 14 April 1992, shortly before the 1992 elections, as a replacement for Haim Corfu. She retained her seat in the election, and in her first term served as chairwoman of the Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women, the Subcommittee on Laws of Personal Status and the Parliamentary Committee for Investigating Murder of Women by their Spouses.

She retained her seat in the 1996 elections, and was appointed Minister of Communications in Binyamin Netanyahu's government. During her term, she attempted to increase competition in the Israeli communications sector by weakening and privatizing Bezeq, which had previously held a monopoly over the country's landline phone sector.

Tensions between Livnat and Netanyahu climaxed in the former's resignation from government in 1997 and subsequent attempt to end Netanyahu's leadership of the Likud. Following Netanyahu's resignation from the Likud leadership after the party's defeat in the 1999 elections, Livnat supported Ariel Sharon's successful attempt to serve as the next chairperson of the party. After Sharon's victory over Ehud Barak in the special election for Prime Minister in 2001, Livnat was appointed Minister of Education in both governments he formed.

She was re-elected in 2003, and continued to serve as Minister of Education until Likud left the coalition (now headed by the newly-formed Kadima) in 2006. She retained her seat in the 2006 and 2009 elections, after which she was appointed to the new post of Minister of Culture and Sport.

Livnat has also served as Vice Chairwoman and Acting Chairwoman of the World Likud Movement.

Personal views

Although overtly secular, Livnat is generally identified as a right wing conservative, both morally and politically. A supporter of Revisionist Zionism, she ideologically opposed the Oslo Accords as well as the notion of relinquishing control over the West Bank. In this light she has voiced concerns over US President George W. Bush's Road Map for Peace. She also regularly attends events in honor of the pre-independence militant organizations, such as the Irgun and Lehi. However, she did not actively oppose Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan.

A resident of Tel Aviv, Livnat is married and has two children.

External links

Limor Livnat on the Knesset website