Einat Wilf ( he, עינת וילף, born 11 December 1970) is a former

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i politician who served as a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

for

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

and the Labor Party.

Biography

Einat Wilf was born in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and raised in a

Labor Zionist Labor Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת סוֹצְיָאלִיסְטִית, ) or socialist Zionism ( he, תְּנוּעָת הָעַבוֹדָה, label=none, translit=Tnuʽat haʽavoda) refers to the left-wing, socialist variation of Zionism. ...

family. She studied at the

Hebrew University Secondary School Hebrew University High School ( he, התיכון ליד האוניברסיטה), commonly known as ''Leyada'' (literally "next to"), is a semi-private high school in West Jerusalem, established in 1935 by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The ...

. She completed her military service as an Intelligence Officer in

Unit 8200 Unit 8200 ( he, יחידה 8200, ''Yehida shmone -Matayim''- "Unit eight - two hundred") is an Israeli Intelligence Corps unit of the Israel Defense Forces responsible for collecting signal intelligence (SIGINT) and code decryption. Military pu ...

with the rank of Lieutenant. She then went to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, receiving a BA in government and fine arts, before earning an MBA from

INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...

in France, and subsequently a PhD in political science at Wolfson College,

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. Wilf married German journalist and television personality

Richard Gutjahr Richard Gutjahr (; born 1973 in Bonn) is a German TV presenter and blogger. He is known for covering the terror attacks in Nice and Munich in mid-2016 with a mobile phone, and he "explained how basic mobile technology allowed him to cover the tw ...

in 2007. She gave birth to their son in 2010. Wilf describes herself as a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

, a feminist and an atheist.

Political and business career

Wilf served as a Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres, a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company in New York City and a General Partner with Koor Corporate Venture Capital in Israel. Upon her return to Israel Wilf worked as a Senior Fellow with the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute and a weekly columnist for the daily newspaper '' Israel HaYom''. Wilf also taught social entrepreneurship at

Sapir College Sapir College ( he, המכללה האקדמית ספיר, ''HaMikhlela HaAkademit Sapir'') is a college in Israel, located in the northwestern Negev desert near Sderot. It is the largest public college in Israel, with an enrollment of 8,000 s ...

, as well as a frequent guest on Israeli radio and television talk shows and a member of the President's Conference Steering Committee. In 2007, she ran for the presidency of the

World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...

. However, she withdrew before the actual vote, and

Ronald Lauder Ronald (Ron) Steven Lauder (born February 26, 1944) is an American businessman, billionaire, philanthropist, art collector, and political activist. He is the president of the World Jewish Congress since 2007. He and his brother, Leonard Lauder, ...

was elected president. A member of the

Israeli Labor Party The Israeli Labor Party ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית, ), commonly known as HaAvoda ( he, הָעֲבוֹדָה, , The Labor), is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel. The p ...

, Wilf was placed 39th on the party's list for the 2003 elections, but failed to win a seat. She won fourteenth place on the party's list for the

2009 Knesset elections 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

. Although Labor won only 13 seats, Wilf entered the Knesset on 10 January 2010 as a replacement for

Ophir Pines-Paz Ophir Pines-Paz ( he, אופיר פינס-פז, born 11 July 1961) is an Israeli former politician who served as Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister of Science, Culture & Sport, and as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party from 1996 u ...

, who had retired from politics. However, in January 2011 she was one of five MKs to leave the party to establish the new

Independence party Independence Party may refer to: Active parties Outside United States * Independence Party (Egypt) * Estonian Independence Party * Independence Party (Finland) * Independence Party (Iceland) * Independence Party (Mauritius) * Independence Part ...

under the leadership of Ehud Barak. She lost her Knesset seat in January 2013 when the party chose not to contest the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

Published works

*''My Israel, Our Generation,'' BookSurge Publishing (2007), *''Back to Basics: The Road to Saving Israel's Education (at no extra cost)'', Yedioth Ahronot (April 2008) *''Global actors and global politics : the case of the World Jewish Congress campaign against the Swiss Banks'' (thesis, Cambridge 2008
Cambridge, UK.
*''Symposium on Rabin's legacy''
Fathom
Autumn 2015 *''Winning the War of Words: Essays on Zionism and Israel'', CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 3, 2015), *''Perry Anderson's House of Zion: A Symposium''
Fathom
Spring 2016 *''Telling Our Story: Essays on Zionism, the Middle East, and the Path to Peace'', CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 19, 2018), * ''The War of Return'', Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir (2018),

References

External links

Official websiteThe Best Explanation of Zionism and Israel
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilf, Einat 1970 births Living people Alumni of Wolfson College, Cambridge Harvard College alumni Independence (Israeli political party) politicians INSEAD alumni Israeli atheists Israeli columnists Israeli educators Israeli Labor Party politicians Israeli political writers Women members of the Knesset Israeli women writers Jewish atheists Jewish educators Jewish non-fiction writers Jewish women writers McKinsey & Company people Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) People from Jerusalem People of the Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel) Sapir Academic College faculty Israeli female military personnel Zionists Writers on Zionism 21st-century Israeli women politicians Israeli women columnists