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In the wake of Ehud Olmert's resignation as prime minister of Israel, Tzipi Livni, the new head of the Kadima party, has begun the task of forming a new governing coalition. Should Livni succeed in forming a government, she will become Israel's second female prime minister after Golda Meir, and all three branches of the Israeli government-executive, legislative and judicial-could be headed by women. Such a situation would be unprecedented in world history. So, who are these women?

Born in Tel Aviv in 1958, Tzipi Livni served as a lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and later with the Mossad in Europe. Upon returning to Israel, Livni practiced law for ten years before entering public life. She was first elected to the Knesset in 1999 as a member of the Likud party, which she left at the end of 2005 in order to join Ariel Sharon's new Kadima party.

Dalia Itzik, the speaker of the Knesset, is a longtime Labor member who was first elected to the Israeli parliament in 1992 and was selected as its speaker in 2006. A native of Jerusalem, Itzik is a teacher by profession and a former deputy mayor of Jerusalem in charge of education. Itzik also served as Israel's acting president for the first half of 2007 when then-President Moshe Katsav took a leave of absence.

Dorit Beinisch has been the chief justice of the Supreme Court since 2006. A Tel Aviv native, she was a first lieutenant in the IDF and later studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After serving in a number of government roles, she was named attorney general in 1989 and was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1995.

Also worth noting: Israel's new U.N. ambassador is a woman. Gabriela Shalev assumed her post last month at the U.N. headquarters in New York.

As Livni attempts to form a coalition, Olmert will oversee an interim government until a new prime minister is sworn in. As it looks now, 2009 may turn out to be the year of the woman in Israel.  .NER.

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