Orly Levy-Abekasis ( he, אוֹרְלִי לֵוִי־אַבֵּקָסִיס, born 11 November 1973) is an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset. Formerly a model, Levy-Abekasis first entered the Knesset in 2009 as a representative of

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 ...

, but left the party in 2017 to sit as an independent. In 2019, she formed her own party, Gesher, to contest the April 2019 elections. Although the party failed to win a seat, she returned to the Knesset following the September 2019 elections, in which Gesher ran together with the Labor Party. In May 2020 she was appointed by Prime Minister Netanyahu as the newly created Minister for Community Empowerment and Advancement.

Biography

Orly Levy was born in

Beit She'an Beit She'an ( he, בֵּית שְׁאָן '), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan ( ar, بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below se ...

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 ...

, to a

Moroccan Jewish Moroccan Jews ( ar, اليهود المغاربة, al-Yahūd al-Maghāriba he, יהודים מרוקאים, Yehudim Maroka'im) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews b ...

family. The ninth of twelve children of Moroccan-born former Foreign Affairs Minister David Levy. She did her military service in the

Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force (IAF; he, זְרוֹעַ הָאֲוִיר וְהֶחָלָל, Zroa HaAvir VeHahalal, tl, "Air and Space Arm", commonly known as , ''Kheil HaAvir'', "Air Corps") operates as the aerial warfare branch of the Israel Defense ...

, and later earned a

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

degree at the

IDC 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 ...

college. She is married to Lior Abekasis. They have four children, and reside in

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Mesilot Messilot ( he, מְסִלּוֹת, מסילות, ''lit.'' Tracks) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Beit She'an Valley near the city of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In it had a p ...

. Her brother Jackie served as mayor of

for the

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 Sharon ...

Television and modeling career

Levy-Abekasis worked as a model and a local television host, before following her father into politics.

Political career

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 ...

, Levy-Abekasis was placed sixth on the

list, and entered the Knesset after the party won fifteen seats. During her first term, she served as Deputy

Speaker of the Knesset The Speaker of the Knesset ( he, יוֹשֵׁב רֹאשׁ הכנסת, Yoshev Rosh HaKnesset, Chairman of the Knesset) is the presiding officer of the Knesset, the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Speaker also acts as Presiden ...

and Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. For the 2013 elections, Levy-Abekasis was placed 16th on the

Likud Yisrael Beiteinu Likud Yisrael Beiteinu ( he, הליכוד ישראל ביתנו; often referred by the Israeli media as Likud Beiteinu, ) was an electoral alliance formed in 2012 by the center-right Likud and the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu to contest the Januar ...

list, and entered the Knesset after the party won 31 seats. She was re-appointed Chair of the Committee of the Rights of the Child. In January 2015, it was announced that she would be second on the Yisrael Beiteinu list for the March 2015 elections. In May 2016, she announced she was quitting Yisrael Beiteinu due to the lack of attention to social affairs in the party's negotiations over joining the coalition government. She officially became an independent MK on 15 March 2017. Due to leaving Yisrael Beiteinu during a Knesset term, she was limited by Knesset protocol from running for the next elections. As a result, in March 2018, she announced plans to form a new party. In December 2018, the party was named Gesher, reviving the name of the party founded by her father in 1996. In the April 2019 elections, the new party failed to cross the electoral threshold. However, after a failure to form a new government, the newly elected Knesset voted to dissolve itself in May 2019, and snap elections were called for September. On 18 July, Gesher agreed to form an electoral alliance with

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

, with Levy-Abekasis placed second on the joint list. She returned to the Knesset as the alliance won six seats. In May 2020, she was made head of the newly created Ministry for Community Empowerment and Advancement after she signed a coalition deal with

. For the

2021 elections Many elections occurred in 2021. The National Democratic Institute maintains calendar of elections around the world * 2021 United Nations Security Council election * 2021 national electoral calendar * 2021 local electoral calendar Africa * 2021 ...

, Levy-Abekasis was placed twenty-sixth on

's list and retained her seat in the Knesset, as Likud won thirty seats. For the 2022 elections, Levy-Abekasis was placed fiftieth on

's list and lost her seat in the Knesset, as Likud won thirty-two seats.

Views and opinions

Levy-Abekasis's political views are primarily focused on social issues and issues of economic justice. Whilst a member of Yisrael Beiteinu, she was one of two members of the governing coalition to abstain from the controversial Nation State Law.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levy-Abekasis, Orly 1973 births Living people 21st-century Israeli women politicians Deputy Speakers of the Knesset Reichman University alumni Israeli female models Israeli Sephardi Jews Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Israeli television presenters Israeli women television presenters Jewish Israeli politicians Kibbutzniks Likud politicians Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) Members of the 22nd Knesset (2019–2020) Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021) Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) Israeli Mizrahi Jews People from Beit She'an Women government ministers of Israel Women members of the Knesset Yisrael Beiteinu politicians