If you can’t run, drive
Former Kadima head Tzipi Livni joins Desert Queens, a women-only Israeli off-road competition in India
Aaron Kalman is a former writer and breaking news editor for the Times of Israel
Tzipi Livni landed in India on Tuesday and immediately set to work practicing driving a jeep through rough terrain and high altitudes as she joined the Desert Queens off-road competition.
The former politician, 53, said it was a dream come true to join the project. She had asked the producers of the 2010 session to save her a seat, but couldn’t take it. After resigning as the leader of Kadima in May, she finally joined the challenge this time.
When speaking to the participants two years ago, Livni had called the journey an “amazing project,” saying it “combines everything women weren’t expected to do.”
Desert Queens is a women-only adventure competition, in which 40 Israeli women travel through exotic locations by jeep. During their journey the participants are to taste the local Indian cuisine, see breathtaking views of the Himalaya Mountains and learn about local traditions.
The women will cross rivers and snow-covered peaks during the day, and sleep in the homes of local residents at night. Ten jeeps with four women in each will be driven by participants, and Livni began practicing on her first day abroad.
Livni had no special requests, but did not go through the usual screening process — surprising fellow participants when she arrived. “Following the initial bewilderment, the atmosphere was incredible,” organizers told reporters.
Writing on her Facebook page, Livni — who in 2007 was named in TIME magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people, and in 2011 as one of the 150 women who “shake the world” in Newsweek — notified her followers about leaving the country. She apologized that, in the immediate future, she won’t be available as much as she usually is.
