Tags : :
Tzipi Livni, the serving Israeli foreign minister, is the front runner to replace Ehud Olmert, following his announcement last week that he is to step down as leader of the ruling Kadima party over corruption allegations.
But in a macho political culture that has not anointed a female head of state since the 1969 election of Golda Meir - the original "Iron Lady" before Margaret Thatcher - Ms Livni is under pressure to prove that she can be as tough as, if not tougher than, any of her male rivals.
"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." ~~John 15:5~~