Merav Michaeli ( he, מֵרַב מִיכָאֵלִי, translit=Mērav Mīxāʾēlī; born 24 November 1966) is an Israeli politician, journalist,
TV anchor
A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
, radio broadcaster, feminist, and activist. She is currently the leader 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 pa ...
and the
Minister of Transport and Road Safety in the
thirty-sixth government of Israel
The thirty-sixth government of Israel, or the Bennett–Lapid government, was the cabinet of Israel that was formed on 13 June 2021 after the 2021 Israeli legislative election. On 2 June 2021, a coalition agreement was signed between Yesh Ati ...
.
Biography
Michaeli was born in
Petah Tikva
Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of ...
to Ami Michaeli and Suzan Kastner, of
Hungarian Jewish
The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived i ...
background. She is the granddaughter of
Rudolf Kastner and also of Nehemia Michaeli who was the last secretary of the
Mapam
Mapam ( he, מַפָּ״ם, an acronym for , ) was a left-wing political party in Israel. The party is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.
History
Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the kibbutz-based Hashomer Hatz ...
party.
During her youth, Michaeli served as leader in the
Israeli Scouts. In the IDF, Michaeli was a newscaster on the
Army Radio
Army Radio ( he, גלי צה"ל lit. IDF waves) or Galei Tzahal, known in Israel by its acronym Galatz ( he, גל"צ), is a nationwide Israeli radio network operated by the Israel Defense Forces. The station broadcasts news, music, traffic reports ...
. She helped establish
Galgalatz
Galgalatz or GLGLZ ( he, גלגלצ) is an Israeli radio station, operated by Israel Defense Forces Radio. This is the second of two Israel Defense Forces-operated stations, while the first one is Israel Defense Forces Radio/Galatz. The station ...
and
Radio Tel Aviv radio stations and would also lead Hebrew television programs focused on politics.
She was a journalist and opinion columnist for the ''
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...
'' newspaper. She also taught university classes and lectured extensively on the topics of feminism, media, and communications. In September 2012, she spoke at
TED Jaffa on the theme of "paradigm shift", in which she argued that society should "cancel marriage".
Political career
In October 2012 Michaeli announced that she was joining the
Labor Party, and intended to run for inclusion on Labor's list for the
2013 Knesset elections. On 29 November 2012 she won fifth place on the Labor Party's list, and was elected to 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 ...
when Labor won 15 seats.
In preparation for the
2015 general election the Labor and
Hatnuah
Hatnua ( he, הַתְּנוּעָה, lit=''The Movement'') was a liberal political party in Israel formed by former Israeli Foreign Minister and Vice Prime Minister Tzipi Livni to present an alternative to voters frustrated by the stalemate in ...
parties formed the
Zionist Union
The Zionist Union ( he, הַמַחֲנֶה הַצִיּוֹנִי, translit. ''HaMaḥaneh HaẒiyoni'', lit. ''the Zionist Camp'') was a centre-left political alliance in Israel. It was established in December 2014 by the Israeli Labor Party ...
alliance. Michaeli won the ninth slot on the Zionist Union list, and was elected to the Knesset as it won 24 seats.
Shortly before the end of the Knesset term, the Zionist Union was dissolved, with Labor and Hatnuah sitting in the Knesset as separate parties. Michaeli was placed seventh on the Labor list for the
April 2019 elections, but lost her seat as Labor was reduced to six seats. However, she returned to the Knesset in August 2019 after
Stav Shaffir resigned from the legislature. On 22 April 2020 after the
2020 Israeli legislative election the then Labor party leader
Amir Peretz
Amir Peretz ( he, עָמִיר פֶּרֶץ; born on 9 March 1952) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party. A Knesset member almost continuously from 1988 to 2021, he has served as Minister of Defen ...
announced that the Labor Party would join the unity government in the
Netanyahu-Gantz coalition, but Michaeli rejected sitting in the coalition under Netanyahu.
She was
elected to lead the Israeli Labor Party on 24 January 2021 after her predecessor,
Amir Peretz
Amir Peretz ( he, עָמִיר פֶּרֶץ; born on 9 March 1952) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party. A Knesset member almost continuously from 1988 to 2021, he has served as Minister of Defen ...
, announced he would not stand for re-election.
In the election on 23 March 2021, the Israeli Labor Party was granted seven seats, and, during the parliamentary negotiation phase, put their trust in
Yair Lapid
Yair Lapid ( he, יָאִיר לַפִּיד, transliterated: , ; born 5 November 1963) is an Israeli politician and former journalist who has been serving as the 14th prime minister of Israel since 1 July 2022. He previously served as the alt ...
to form the government. On 13 June 2021, the 36th Israeli government was sworn in, and with it Michaeli as Minister of Transport and Road safety. On 31 December 2021, she announced that the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv would be closed within four years, breaking her promise to close it immediately. She gave in to the mayor of Tel Aviv,
Ron Huldai
Ron Huldai ( he, רוֹן חוּלְדָּאִי; born 26 August 1944) is the current Mayor of Tel Aviv, since 1998. Before he entered his role as Tel Aviv mayor, Huldai served as a fighter pilot and a commander in the Israeli Air Force. After ...
, who has no intention of closing the Central Bus Station.
Michaeli was
re-elected to lead the Israeli Labor Party in July 2022.
Personal life
Her partner is the television producer, host and comedian
Lior Schleien
Lior Schleien ( he, ליאור שליין; born 1 July 1978) is an Israeli television producer and host.
Early life
Lior Schleien was born in 1978 in Tel Aviv, Israel to Jewish parents of Lithuanian descent. He holds law degrees from Tel Aviv U ...
.
[Meet Merav Michaeli, the fiery feminist of Israel’s government](_blank)
''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', 23 December 2015 In August 2021, Merav and Schleien's son was born in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
by
surrogate pregnancy
Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to delivery/labour for another person or people, who will become the child's parent(s) after birth. People may seek a surrogacy arrangement when pregnan ...
.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Michaeli, Merav
1966 births
Living people
21st-century Israeli women politicians
Haaretz people
Israeli activists
Israeli feminists
Israeli Labor Party politicians
Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Israeli radio presenters
Israeli women radio presenters
Israeli television journalists
Israeli women activists
Israeli women journalists
Israeli women's rights activists
Jewish Israeli politicians
Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015)
Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019)
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)
Members of the 25th Knesset (2022–)
Ministers of Transport of Israel
People from Petah Tikva
Women government ministers of Israel
Women members of the Knesset
Women television journalists
Zionist Union politicians