Professor Shalev, aged 67, is an internationally respected woman who served in various public posts. She is rector of the Ono Academic College and has also served as chairman of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, as a member of the Jewish Agency's Board of Trustees and a member of the committee for formulating ethics of cabinet members.

Shalev, 67, is an internationally respected woman who served in various public posts. She is the president of Israel's Academic Council and rector of the Ono Academic College . She has also served as chairman of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, as a member of the Jewish Agency's Board of Trustees and a member of the committee for formulating ethics of cabinet members.

Until 2002 she served as a Professor of Law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She also taught, as a Guest-Professor, in different universities in North America and Europe. Prof. Shalev is a permanent participant in international conferences as an expert on contract law and comparative law.  She received the Susman Law Prize (1989); the Zeltner Law Prize (1991) and in 2003 she won an honorary prize of the Israeli Bar Association for special achievements in academic research. She is a member of the International Academy of Comparative Law, and has published nine books and some hundred articles, most of them involving contract law and comparative law.

Prof. Shalev is a member of many bodies and public committees such as the Tribunal for Standard Form Contracts, the Committee for Codification of Civil Law, the Executive of the Israeli Democracy Institute. She is also a member of the Presidency of the Movement for Quality Government, and sits on the Boards of Directors of leading Israeli companies such as Teva, Osem, and Delek.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said it was important for Israel to appoint a woman to the coveted position.

Photo: Meir Partush