Tzipi Livni Zionist Union, a unified bloc of their two parties. On 11 February 2017, it was reported that UN Secretary-General António Guterres had offered Livni the post of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. Livni would be the first Israeli to serve in such a senior position at the organization. Born in Tel Aviv, Livni is the daughter of Eitan Livni (born in Poland) and Sara (Rosenberg), both prominent former Irgun members. After Israel's independence, Eitan and Sara Livni became the first couple to marry in the new state. Her father served as the chief operations officer of the Irgun. As a
Meretz new chairman. On 22 December 2008, Meretz finalized its merger with Hatnua HaHadasha ("The New Movement") for the 2009 Israeli elections. The joint Meretz-Hatnua HaHadasha list ended up winning only 3 seats in the elections. This electoral loss was largely attributed to traditionally left-wing voters choosing to strategically vote for Kadima, in an effort to get Tzipi Livni to head the next government instead of Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud. Following the party's failure in the 2009 legislative elections, some of the party members called for the resignation of the party chairman Haim Oron and to give way for Zehava Gal-On.