Keren Barak ( he, קֶרֶן בָּרָק, born 20 September 1972) is an Israeli lobbyist and politician. She was 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

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sha ...

from 2019 to 2022.

Biography

Born in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

to parents who had immigrated from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, Barak served as an infantry instructor and commanded new recruits and armoured personnel carriers during her national service in the Israel Defense Forces.Keren Barak: Particulars
Knesset She studied for a BA in communications and administration at the

College of Management Academic Studies The College of Management Academic Studies, a college located in the city of Rishon LeZion, Israel, is the largest college in Israel. Founded in 1978, COLMAN is the first non-subsidized, not-for-profit research academic institution in Israel to ...

and then earned an MBA at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She subsequently became a faculty member at the

Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya Reichman University ( he, אוניברסיטת רייכמן) is Israel's only private university, located in Herzliya, Tel Aviv District. It was founded in 1994 as the IDC Herzliya private college, before being rebranded in 2021. It receives no ...

. Barak later worked as a Knesset advisor, and as a lobbyist for several companies, including Cellcom and the

Port of Haifa The Port of Haifa ( he, נמל חיפה) is the largest of Israel's three major international seaports, the others being the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. It has a natural deep-water harbor, which operates all year long, and serves both pa ...

.חברי הכנסת החדשים בליכוד: יו"ר ועד עובדי רשות התעופה ולוביסטית מצליחה
Haaretz, 7 February 2019 In 2018 she made the news as the result of a run-in with Likud MK

Yoav Kish Yoav Kisch ( he, יוֹאָב קִישׁ; born 6 December 1968) is an Israeli pilot and politician. Biography Kisch was born and raised in Tel Aviv. His paternal grandfather was Frederick Kisch, the highest-ranking Jew ever to serve in the Briti ...

in a Knesset debate on child custody in which Kish claimed she had threatened him. Barak was placed thirty-second on the

list for the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...

, but the party won only 27 seats. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

she was forty-seventh on the joint Likud

Yisrael Beiteinu Yisrael Beiteinu ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵל בֵּיתֵנוּ, russian: Наш Дом Израиль, lit. ''Israel Our Home'') is a secularist, nationalist right-wing political party in Israel. The party's base was originally secular Russia ...

list, which won 31 seats. However, after being placed twenty-fourth on the Likud list for the April 2019 elections, she was elected to the Knesset as Likud won 36 seats. She was re-elected in September 2019 and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

. In 2020 Barak attacked two fellow Likud MKs,

Osnat Mark Osnat Hila Mark ( he, אוסנת הילה מארק, born 22 September 1967) is an Israeli lawyer and politician. She served as a member of the Knesset for Likud in two spells between 2018 and 2021. Biography Mark was born and grew up in Ofakim. ...

and May Golan, on the Knesset floor, saying "You olanare not worth the heel on my shoe. Not you, and not the retarded blonde

ark Ark or ARK may refer to: Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva'' * Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood * Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses Hebrew ''aron'' * ...

" Barak's office initially denied the conversation had occurred, then when confronted with the recording assailed her colleagues for providing it to the press and airing "dirty laundry."Likud MK calls colleague 'retarded blonde'
Jerusalem Post, 14 October 2020 She was re-elected in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, but lost her seat in the 2022 elections after being placed forty-eighth on the Likud list.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barak, Keren 1972 births Living people College of Management Academic Studies alumni Jerusalem School of Business Administration alumni Academic staff of Reichman University Israeli people of Egyptian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Likud politicians Members of the 21st Knesset (2019) Members of the 22nd Knesset (2019–2020) Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021) Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) People from Haifa Women members of the Knesset