Newsweek picks Dalia Itzik as role model

What do supermodel Tyra Banks, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Sandberg and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik have in common? They were all defined as a role model by Newsweek.

These three women were featured in a list of 11 prominent female leaders compiled by the prestigious American weekly. The project was aimed at selecting women who succeeded in various fields and hear their life story.

Also included in the list were a British justice minister, an Olympic swimmer, a Brazilian football player, a French author, a former Japanese cabinet minister and a Muslim architect.

In an interview with the magazine, Itzik talks about her dual life as a politician and a mother.

"If you want to be a good father or a good mother, you don't want nurses bringing up your children. I don't know any mother in the world who doesn't feel guilty. You suffer so much from guilt. Sometimes you're exhausted just from the guilt.

"Now my children are grown up and big enough to judge for themselves. What you fear is they'll say, 'Mommy, you weren't there.' Sometimes I come to them and say I want to stop. But they say, 'No, stay.'"

The Knesset speaker also shared her feelings when asked whether prime minister-designate Tzipi Livni could be relied on.

"I'm not sure we'd ask the same question if there were a man running the country. No, I don't think Israelis feel secure yet with women making security decisions. Men all serve in the Army; they make the major security decisions. I didn't serve in the Army.

"We have to convince people that it's not just a matter of serving in the Army. It's also judgment and a good staff. I insisted on being in the security cabinet. The message was: We're not just good for women's issues."