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That 3 a.m. phone call that roused Hillary Clinton has been forwarded to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is seeking to inherit her country's leadership from outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Her opponents in next week's Kadima party primaries have picked up on Ms. Clinton's campaign challenge - “Who do you want answering the phone?” - to suggest that Ms. Livni, and by inference any woman, should not be wakened by phone calls that may require military decisions.

“Whoever lacks understanding in security matters cannot serve as prime minister,” declared Ms. Livni's main contender, former defence minister Shaul Mofaz. The current Defence Minister, Labour Party leader Ehud Barak, concurred. “I'm not convinced that when it comes to important security issues ... the Foreign Minister has what it takes to provide answers.”

As it happens, the only Israeli leader ever wakened by a predawn call warning of imminent war was a 75-year-old grandmother, Golda Meir. Her subsequent behaviour supports the notion that it is not gender that counts in a crisis but character.

Mrs. Meir's bedside phone rang on Yom Kippur, 1973, at 4:30 a.m. The caller was her military aide, General Yisrael Lior, passing on a report from the Mossad that the armies of Egypt and Syria would attack Israel at dusk. Mrs. Meir's instinctive response was less than decisive. “Yisrael, what do we do now?”

Mrs. Meir had never been short on courage. On the eve of Israel's War of Independence in 1948, she had crossed into Jordanian territory dressed as an Arab woman in an attempt to persuade King Abdullah to stay out of the fighting. But she knew nothing of military matters and had admitted to Gen. Lior once that she did not know what a division was. But she had two stalwarts on whom she could rely - defence minister Moshe Dayan, Israel's military icon, and army chief of staff David Elazar, a strong leader.

When she arrived at her office on Yom Kippur morning, grey-faced at the prospect of heavy casualties, she discovered that Gen. Dayan and Gen. Elazar disagreed about what to do. Gen. Elazar wanted immediate mobilization of the reserves, which constituted two-thirds of Israel's army. He also wanted a pre-emptive air strike. Gen. Dayan refused to authorize either request. Despite the Mossad warning, the defence minister was not certain war was imminent. A similar warning in the spring had proved false. Mass mobilization, he said, would be widely viewed as an act of war and could provoke the Arabs to attack. Likewise, the world - read, Washington - would not accept another pre-emptive strike only six years after Israel had carried one out in the Six Day War.

As the generals and other advisers debated the issue in her office, it became clear that Mrs. Meir herself would have to decide. She lit cigarette after cigarette, filling the room with acrid smoke that made those present squint. She hesitated but, in the end, made a clear decision. There would be no pre-emptive strike.

Israel might soon be needing American aid, and it was imperative that it be clear that Israel had not started the war. “If we strike first, we won't get help from anybody.” But she agreed with Gen. Elazar's demand for immediate mobilization of all reserve combat units. “If war does break out, better to be in proper shape to deal with it even if it angers the world.”

Falling back on common sense and political experience, she had come to the right military conclusions. Her decision on mobilization saved the Golan Heights that night when reservists, summoned from Yom Kippur prayers during the day, stemmed the Syrian tide in fierce tank battles. And refraining from a pre-emptive attack ensured vital political and logistical support from Washington in the critical days ahead.

At a cabinet meeting, Gen. Dayan briefed his colleagues in a wavering voice. Mrs. Meir had walked heavily when she entered the room but, when she spoke, her voice was firm. She would leave the running of the war to Gen. Dayan and Gen. Elazar, but, when called on to make decisions, she did so sensibly. She never broke down even when strong men about her wavered.

Unlike Golda Meir, Ms. Livni, 50, has a security background, one that includes service as a lieutenant in the army and several years as a Mossad operative in Europe. This does not necessarily mean she would be steadfast in a crisis. But Mrs. Meir's Yom Kippur performance clearly demonstrated that women are not inherently incapable of confronting predawn crises more acute than a crying baby.

Abraham Rabinovich is author of The Yom Kippur War.