Tamar Zandberg
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Tamar Zandberg (, born 29 April 1976) is an Israeli politician who served as Minister of Environmental Protection from 2021 to 2022. Zandberg also 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 (with ...
for
Meretz Meretz ( he, מֶרֶצ, ) is a left-wing political party in Israel. The party was formed in 1992 by the merger of Ratz, Mapam and Shinui, and was at its peak between 1992 and 1996 when it had 12 seats. It currently has no seats in the Knesset ...
from 2013 to 2021, and as the party's leader between 2018 and 2019.


Early life

Zandberg was born in
Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and many ...
in 1976, the daughter of journalist and Yoel Zandberg and the sister of Israeli international footballer Michael Zandberg.Meet the MK: Tamar Zandberg
The Jerusalem Post, 4 February 2013
She attended Blich High School and served in the Education Corps of 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 ...
. She holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology and Economics from 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 ...
, master's degree in Social Psychology from
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...
and a Law Degree (LLB) from
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 until entering the Knesset she taught at
Sapir Academic College Sapir College ( he, המכללה האקדמית ספיר, ''HaMikhlela HaAkademit Sapir'') is a college in Israel, located in the northwestern Negev desert near Sderot. It is the largest public college in Israel, with an enrollment of 8,000 stude ...
in the Management and Public Policy department. She is currently a PhD candidate in Politics and Government at Ben Gurion University, researching issues of
spatial planning Spatial planning mediates between the respective claims on space of the state, market, and community. In so doing, three different mechanisms of involving stakeholders, integrating sectoral policies and promoting development projects mark the th ...
and human rights.


Political career

She began her political career in 2003, when she started to work as a parliamentary assistant to Meretz MK
Ran Cohen Ran Cohen ( he, רן כהן, born 20 June 1937) is an Israeli politician and former Knesset member for Meretz. Background Born Said Cohen in Baghdad, Iraq, Cohen was 13 years old when he immigrated to Israel through Iran. He hebraized his first ...
, a job she held until 2008. In the same year she was elected to
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
city council in second place on the Meretz list. During her term on the council, she chaired the city's Women's Affairs Committee and was a member of both the Finance Committee and the Affordable Housing Committee. She was behind an initiative to introduce public transportation on
Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
, and also promoted action against the opening of
strip club A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other Erotic dancing, erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or Bar (establishment), bar style, and can also ...
s, advancement of
civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...
and
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
and the promotion of women-run small businesses. Zandberg was a main activist in the social protest movement of summer 2011, and was a member of the experts' group that introduced the movement's housing and transportation platform. During the protests, Zandberg led, along with other Meretz city council members, the withdrawal of Meretz from the council coalition, led by Mayor
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 ...
due to violent suppression of the protests. She considers herself a
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
, urban environmentalist and a
social democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
. She heads the opposition 'Social Home' faction within
Na'amat Na'amat ( he, נעמת) is an Israeli and international women's organization affiliated with the Labour Zionist Movement. Na'amat was founded in 1921. Etymology Na'amat is an acronym for ''Nashim Ovdot U'Mitnadvot'' ( he, נשים עובדות ...
, Israel's leading union for working women. Prior to the 2013 elections she was placed sixth on the Meretz list, after raising the funding for her campaign through a
crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...
website which enabled people to donate small sums up to 1000 NIS. She entered the Knesset as the party won six seats. During her first term she founded and co-chaired the Lobby for Sustainable Transportation, was involved in the founding of the Urban Renewal Lobby and headed the Israeli Beaches Sub Committee. She put forward laws on
paternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity l ...
and the decriminalisation of the personal use of cannabis. She ran in the fifth slot in the 2015 election and appeared to have lost her seat when preliminary resulted indicated Meretz had only won four seats. Party leader
Zehava Gal-On Zehava Gal-On ( he, זֶהָבָה גַּלְאוֹן; born 4 January 1956) is an Israeli politician, serving as a member of the Knesset from 1999 to 2017. She was the chairwoman of the Meretz political party from 2012 to 2018 and again since 2 ...
announced that she would resign from the Knesset and as party chairperson in order to allow Zandberg, a rising star within the party, to re-enter the Knesset as the party's fourth MK. However, Zandberg urged Gal-On to reconsider her decision and remain as the party's leader in the Knesset. Once absentee and soldier ballots were counted, however, Meretz unexpectedly gained a fifth seat, negating the premise for Gal-On's resignation and allowing her to continue as party leader. After being re-elected, she became a member of the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee and chair of the Committee on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, as well as co-heading the Social-Environmental Lobby, the Lobby for Sustainable Transportation and heading the Lobby for Urban Renewal. She won the Green Globe Award for her work as a public servant promoting environmental and sustainable legislation. Zandberg won the election for the leadership of Meretz on 22 March 2018 with 71% of votes cast. She was re-elected to the Knesset in the April 2019 elections as the lead candidate on the Meretz list. During the run-up to the September elections, she lost the party's leadership election to
Nitzan Horowitz Nitzan Horowitz ( he, נִצָּן הוֹרוֹבִיץ; Transliterated: ; born 24 February 1965) is an politician and former journalist serving as Minister of Health since 2021. He is currently leader of Meretz. He previously was the chief U ...
. Meretz joined the Democratic Union alliance for the elections, with Zandberg re-elected in fourth place on the list. In 2021, she became Minister of Environmental Protection 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 ...
. She resigned her Knesset seat under the Norwegian Law and was replaced by Gaby Lasky.


Personal life

Zandberg is divorced and has one daughter from her previous marriage and a second daughter with her partner, Uri Zaki, former executive director of
B'Tselem B'Tselem ( he, בצלם, , " in the image of od) is a Jerusalem-based non-profit organization whose stated goals are to document human rights violations in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, combat any denial of the existence of su ...
USA, with whom she lived in Tel Aviv. Zandberg is an
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
and a
vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zandberg, Tamar 1976 births Living people 21st-century Israeli women politicians Ben-Gurion University of the Negev alumni Israeli atheists Israeli feminists Israeli Jews Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Israeli women activists Jewish atheists Jewish feminists Jewish Israeli politicians Jewish women politicians Israeli LGBT rights activists 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) Meretz leaders Ministers of Environment of Israel People from Ramat Gan Sapir Academic College faculty Tel Aviv University alumni Women government ministers of Israel Women members of the Knesset Jewish women activists