Ya'ara Saks (born March 9, 1973) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician who was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on October 26, 2020, following the resignation of

Michael Levitt Michael Levitt, ( he, מיכאל לויט; born 9 May 1947) is a South African-born biophysicist and a professor of structural biology at Stanford University, a position he has held since 1987. Levitt received the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistr ...

. She represents the riding of

York Centre York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a m ...

as a member of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

Early life

A dual citizen of Canada and of Israel, Saks was born in Toronto to an Israeli father and has lived in both Israel (1995 to 2006) and Canada. She attended

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

for her undergraduate education, and then completed her

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

and

diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

at the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

. Before entering politics, Saks owned a

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

studio in York Centre (in the north end of Toronto) and was the director of Trauma Practice for Healthy Communities, a charity that focuses on mental health.

Views on Israeli Politics

Saks has been deeply critical of the direction of the

Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

government in Israel for its treatment of its

Israeli Arab The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...

citizens and the 2018 Nation-State law and has expressed the concern that it is leading Israel to be "deeply racist towards its minorities and ... not to see itself as a light and shelter or future home to asylum seekers fleeing war," as well as its elevation of leadership at the expense of the justice system. Despite her differences with 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 ...

government, Saks has stated that she is "an unapologetic

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 ...

who believes passionately in the State of Israel" and that she condemns the

BDS Movement Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations u ...

(boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel), considering it antisemitic.

Canadian Federal politics

Saks won the 2020 York Centre federal by-election as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. Upon being sworn in as a member of Canada's House of Commons (along with fellow rookie parliamentarian

Marci Ien Marci Ien (born July 29, 1969) is a Canadian politician serving as the minister for women and gender equality and youth since October 26, 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, Ien represents Toronto Centre in the House of Commons. Previously, s ...

) it took the number of female MPs in Canada to 100, which, at 30%, is the highest proportion of women in that chamber in its history. In February 2022, when speaking in the House about confirming the ''Emergencies Act'' in response to the "Freedom Convoy" protest, Saks claimed that "honk honk" (a phrase used by convoy supporters in reference to truck horns) was "an acronym for 'heil

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

'". Saks doubled down on her claim via Twitter, citing "

antifascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

" and "organizer" Gwen Snyder, who posted a

4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard website. Launched by Christopher "moot" Poole in October 2003, the site hosts boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from anime and manga to video games, cooking, weapons, television, ...

post that promoted using the claim as a prank similar to the site's previous hoax that the "OK" hand gesture was code for “white power”.

Electoral record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saks, Yaara 1973 births Living people Liberal Party of Canada MPs Canadian people of Israeli descent McGill University alumni Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario People from North York Politicians from Toronto Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Jewish Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Canadian Zionists