(New Israel Fund UK) Women in the New Coalition

There are an unprecedented number of female ministers in the new Israeli coalition: nine out of 27. Among them are Labour’s Merav Michaeli, Meretz’s Tamar Zandberg, and Yamina’s Ayelet Shaked. Less familiar names include Pnina Tamano-Shata, Ethiopian-born Aliyah and Integration Minister, and Orit Farkash-Hacohen, Science, Tech and Space Minister.

Join our expert panel to learn more about the incredibly diverse women who make up the 36th Knesset. Understand better who they are, where they come from, and what they might achieve both separately and collectively in the coming years.

We will also be looking at key issues in the ongoing battle for women’s equality in Israel, and the obstacles to women assuming positions of power and influence both in Israel and across the globe.

With us will be Professor Frances Raday, Elah Alkalay and Nabila Espanioly:

Prof. Frances Raday, is Professor Emerita of Elias Lieberman Chair in Labor Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Raday is also an Honorary Professor at University College London and is Doctor Honoris at the University of Copenhagen. She is a long-standing activist for human rights, has served as a litigator in Israel’s Supreme Court, and is an expert member of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Committee and a member of various governmental and non-governmental organisations. Since 2011 she has served as member of the UN Human Rights Council Working Group on Discrimination against Women.

Elah Alkalay, is currently VP for Business Development at one of Israel’s largest independent invest houses (IBI); Alkalay has worked in the capital market for the past 18 years. Alkalay serves as a member of the board of governors of Ma’aleh, Nova, and a “A Business of Your Own”, a business incubator supported by the Association for the Economic Empowerment of Women, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women gain economic independence through the creation of small businesses. She also writes a weekly column for Globes’ Online Opinion Section. She is a member of the NIF Board of Directors in Israel.

Nabila Espanioly, is a Palestinian-Israeli psychologist, social worker, feminist and social activist. She is the founder and director of the Al-Tufula Center in Nazareth. Espanioly became active in the Israeli women’s movement during the First Intifada. As a member of the Haifa Feminist Center and a well-known Palestinian-Israeli feminist, she has appeared regularly on Israeli national news programs. She advocated for the formation of groups for Palestinian women within larger Israeli women’s organizations, notably supporting the concept at Israeli feminist conferences.