Ofer Shelah (, born 9 February 1960) is an Israeli journalist and politician. He 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 (wit ...

for

Yesh Atid Yesh Atid ( he, יֵשׁ עָתִיד, , There Is a Future) is a liberal political party in Israel. Founded by Yair Lapid in 2012, it seeks to represent what it considers the centre of Israeli society: the secular middle class. It focuses pri ...

from 2013 until 2020.

Early life and military service

Shelah was born in Kiryat Bialik. He enlisted in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

in 1977 as a soldier in the

Paratroopers Brigade The 35th Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת הַצַּנְחָנִים, ''Hativat HaTzanhanim''), also known as the Paratroopers Brigade, is an infantry brigade unit of paratroopers within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and forms a major part of ...

, and in 1979 became an officer. He served as a

platoon leader {{unreferenced, date=February 2013 A platoon leader (NATO) or platoon commander (more common in Commonwealth militaries and the US Marine Corps) is the officer in charge of a platoon. This person is usually a junior officer – a second or first ...

and as an

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, o ...

in the paratroopers, and took part in various raids against PLO camps in Lebanon. After he was honourably discharged he fought as a platoon leader and as

company commander A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by countr ...

in reserve Paratroopers Brigade in the

1982 Lebanon War The 1982 Lebanon War, dubbed Operation Peace for Galilee ( he, מבצע שלום הגליל, or מבצע של"ג ''Mivtsa Shlom HaGalil'' or ''Mivtsa Sheleg'') by the Israeli government, later known in Israel as the Lebanon War or the First L ...

and lost an eye in Lebanon in 1983. He later published a book about his experiences, ''Guf Sheni'' ( he, Second Person; lit. second body).

Education

Shelah subsequently completed a BA in Economics and English Literature at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

and an MA in Literature and Creative Writing at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

.Ofer Shelah
Knesset

Career

He started working as a journalist for ''

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and '' Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms ...

'' and then for ''

Yedioth Ahronoth ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' ( he, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת, ; lit. ''Latest News'') is a national daily newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. Founded in 1939 in British Mandatory Palestine, ''Yedioth Ahronoth'' is the largest paid n ...

''.All the kingmaker's men, and women
The Times of Israel, 23 January 2013

Political career

Prior to the

2013 Knesset elections Early elections for the nineteenth Knesset were held in Israel on 22 January 2013. Public debate over the Tal Law had nearly led to early elections in 2012, but they were aborted at the last moment after Kadima briefly joined the government. Th ...

Shelah joined the new

party, and was placed sixth on its list. He was elected to the Knesset as the party won 19 seats. During his first time, he was a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. In a 2013 speech at an event for Molad: The Center for the Renewal of Israeli Democracy, Shelah called Israeli settlements in the West Bank a key obstacle to resolving the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...

, saying that "The settlements are an obstacle that just keeps growing. Israel is rapidly reaching the status of a South Africa."Attila Somfalvi
Yesh Atid MK warns occupation will turn Israel into S. Africa
Yedioth Ahronoth, 6 December 2013 Shelah added that "the occupation corrupts Israeli society, the IDF, Israeli justice, Israeli media, Israeli psyche and Israeli mode of speech." He was placed sixth on the party's list for the 2015 elections, and was re-elected as the party won 11 seats. In 2020, Shelah was elected head of the State Audit Committee. He also heads a special Knesset committee on the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel.'Netanyahu Is Morally Rotten, Gantz Is Weak,' Coronavirus Committee Head Says
''Haaretz'', 18 April 2020 He has criticized Prime Minister

Benjamin 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 ...

for his handling of the virus and has called him "morally rotten." He has also pressed for a state comptroller investigation into the submarine graft scandal ( Case 3000). Shelah also condemned Netanyahu for suggesting that the majority

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 ...

Joint List is illegitimate and should not be countered in determining the next government, likening Netanyahu's stance to

Kahanism Kahanism () is an extremist Jewish ideology based on the views of Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League and the Kach party in Israel. Kahane maintained the view that the majority of Arabs living in Israel are enemies of Jews an ...

and calling it "an official declaration of war on the

Jewish and democratic state "Jewish and democratic state" is the Israeli legal definition of the nature and character of the State of Israel. The "Jewish" nature was first defined within the Israeli Declaration of Independence in May 1948 (see Jewish state and Jewish homel ...

." Shelah also criticized Netanyahu's coalition partner and Alternate Prime Minister,

Benny Gantz Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel si ...

, as "weak" and "simply Netanyahu's clerk," pointing to Gantz's lack of input in the government's West Bank annexation plans. In December 2020, Shelah announced that he would leave Yesh Atid to establish his own political party, which was named Tnufa (''Momentum''). However, the party pulled out of the election race on 4 February 2021 amid failed talks to run alongside 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 ...

Personal life

Shelah lives in

Moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 ...

Ginaton, and is widowed with two children.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelah, Ofer 1960 births Living people Israeli Jews Israeli journalists Israeli soldiers Jewish Israeli politicians Maariv (newspaper) people 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) People from Kiryat Bialik Tel Aviv University alumni New York University alumni Yesh Atid politicians Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021) Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Israeli people of Latvian-Jewish descent