Ayelet Shaked

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Ayelet Shaked
AYELET SHAKED.jpg
Date of birth (1976-05-07) 7 May 1976 (age 40)
Place of birth Tel Aviv, Israel
Knessets 19, 20
Faction represented in Knesset
2013– Jewish Home
Ministerial roles
2015– Minister of Justice

Ayelet Shaked (/ˈɑːjɛlɛt ʃɑː.kɛd/; Hebrew: איילת שקד‎‎; born 7 May 1976) is an Israeli politician and computer engineer. She has served as a member of the Knesset for the Jewish Home since 2013, and as Minister of Justice since 2015. Although representing a religious party, Shaked identifies as a secular politician. She began her career in the Tel Aviv high-tech industry.[1][2] She is considered one of Israel's most active legislators,[3] and initiated and drafted laws including Israel's 2016 NGO transparency law.

Early life and career[edit]

Shaked was born Ayelet Ben Shaul in Tel Aviv to a well-educated upper-middle-class Israeli family. Her mother, a Bible teacher, was Ashkenazi (whose ancestors migrated as part of the First Aliyah from Russia and Romania in the 1880s) and voted for center-left parties. Her father, born to an Iraqi Jewish family that immigrated to Israel in the 1950s, was an accountant and voted Likud.[4][5][6] She grew up in the Bavli neighbourhood of Tel Aviv. She identified her political awakening and right-wing orientation to when she was 8 years old, after watching a television debate between Yitzhak Shamir and Shimon Peres, where she supported Shamir.[5][7] She served in the IDF as an infantry instructor in the Golani Brigade.[5] At Tel Aviv University, she obtained a BSc in electrical engineering and computer science. She began her career in the Tel Aviv high-tech industry,[1] working as a software engineer and later becoming manager of marketing at Texas Instruments.

Ayelet Shaked with Reuven Rivlin, President of Israel in consultations after the elections, 23 March 2015

Public career[edit]

From 2006 to 2008, she was office director for the office of Benjamin Netanyahu. In 2010 she established My Israel with Naftali Bennett and led it until May 2012.

From the end of 2011, she campaigned against illegal immigration from Africa to Israel, saying that it poses a threat to the state and also involves severe economic damage.[8] She also campaigned against Galei Tzahal saying it had a "left leaning agenda".[9]

In January 2012 Shaked was elected to serve as a member of the Likud's Central Committee; however, in June 2012 she resigned and joined the Jewish Home. On 14 November 2012 she won third place in the party's primaries, and was placed in the fifth spot on the Jewish Home list for the 2013 elections. With the list winning 12 seats, Shaked became the only secular Jewish Home MK. She subsequently joined the Economic Affairs Committee, the House Committee, and the Committee on Foreign Workers, and served as an alternate member on the Finance Committee. She also chaired the Knesset committee for the Enforcement of the Security Service Law and the National-Civilian Service Law and the Special Committee for the Equal Sharing of the Burden Bill.

In June 2014, Shaked posted an article by the late Israeli writer Uri Elitzur on Facebook.[10] The Facebook post was variously described in the media as calling Palestinian children "little snakes" and appearing to justify mass punishment of Palestinians.[11][12][13][14][15][16] Based upon the Facebook post, the then Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Shaked's mindset was no different from Adolf Hitler's.[16][17] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Erdoğan’s comments, stating "Erdogan's anti-Semitic comments profaned the memory of the Holocaust." The leader of Israeli leftist Meretz party, Zehava Gal-On, suggested that "because of the presidential election Erdoğan has lost control."[18] Shaked stated that her post was portrayed falsely in the media, especially in that the article was presented as her own words rather than Elitzur's. She said, "I refer specifically to 'Daily Beast' writer Gideon Resnick, who so misrepresented the facts in one of my recent Facebook posts, one has to wonder if his hatred for my country hasn’t rendered him outright useless to his website and his readers."[10]

In 2015, Shaked won the primary election for the Jewish Home Party, which was considered an achievement as a secular female politician within a religious party.[19]

Minister of Justice[edit]

Shaked, as Minister of Justice, with Reuven Rivlin, the President of Israel, in judges swear-in ceremony, 2015

She was placed third on the Jewish Home list for the 2015 elections,[20] and was re-elected to the Knesset. On 6 May 2015, it was reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to appoint Shaked as Minister of Justice as part of a plan to form a new coalition government.[21][22][23] Shaked took office as Justice Minister on 14 May 2015.[5]

In July 2015, Shaked announced that she was forming a committee to create a stable legal structure for the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.[24] The formation of the committee was agreed upon in the coalition agreement between Bayit Yehudi and Likud.[24] She has stated: "There are many areas in Judea and Samaria, whose legal status has not been organized. Its time to remove the legal ambiguity, and allow the residents of Judea and Samaria, many of whom live in settlements that were built by the Israeli government, to live without the persistent fear of challenges to their property ownership".[24] The legal status of the West Bank is disputed; the Palestinians, the UN, human rights organisations and most of the international community consider it to be occupied Palestinian territory.

In January 2016, Shaked sponsored a bill in the Knesset that would require non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") that receive a majority of their funding from "foreign government entities" to be so labeled. In an interview in The Washington Post she stated that the law would foster transparency by giving the public the right "to know which NGOs are receiving most of their support from foreign governments and therefore representing foreign government interests."[25]

In June 2016 the Israeli Knesset passed a comprehensive law against terrorism, forbidding any kind of terrorism and support of terrorism, and setting severe punishments for terrorists. The law also regulates legal efforts against terrorism and counter-terrorism measures. The law was sponsored and promoted by Justice minister Shaked.[26]

Personal life[edit]

Shaked is married and has two children and lives in Bavli, Tel Aviv. Her husband is a fighter-pilot in the Israeli Air Force.[4] She admires biographies of Steve Jobs, as well as the works of Ayn Rand, in particular The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.[27]

Awards and recognition[edit]

  • Shaked is the recipient of the 2012 Abramowitz Israeli Prize for Media Criticism.[28]
  • In 2012, she was included in the Globes list of the 50 most influential women.[29]
  • In 2013, Shaked ranked 1st (with Shelly Yachimovich) as outstanding Knesset Member for the summer session by the Knesset Channel.[30]
  • In 2014, Shaked ranked 2nd as outstanding Knesset Member for the winter session by the Knesset Channel.[31]
  • In 2015 The Jerusalem Post ranked Shaked as the 33rd most prominent Jewish people.[32]
  • In 2015 the magazine Forbes Israel ranked Shaked as the 5th most prominent woman in Israel.[33]
  • In 2015 Shaked was elected as "Woman of the Year" in Israel by Lady Globes magazine.[34]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Talks with a Tel Aviv Settler Haaretz, 22.06.2012
  2. ^ Meet the most surprising candidate of "Jewish Home" NRG 11/26/2012
  3. ^ Parliamentary Affairs: Not-so-new politics, By Lahav Harkov, 08/01/2013
  4. ^ a b Julie Wiener, Who is Ayelet Shaked, Israel's new justice minister?, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, May 7, 2015
  5. ^ a b c d Rudoren, Jodi (15 May 2015). "Ayelet Shaked, Israel's New Justice Minister, Shrugs Off Critics in Her Path". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 May 2015. Ms. Shaked still lives in the Bavli neighborhood of Tel Aviv where she grew up. Her mother, a Bible teacher, voted for center-left parties, and her father, an accountant of Iraqi descent who was born in Iran, for the right-leaning Likud. Ms. Shaked dates her own political awakening to age 8, when she admired the hawkish Yitzhak Shamir in a televised debate. 
  6. ^ Naomi Zeveloff, Can Ayelet Shaked Sell (Secular) Israel on the Far Right?, The Forward, 26 January 2015
  7. ^ "ראיון אישי עם איילת שקד: משהו חדש מתחיל בפוליטיקה הישראלית." [Interview with Ayelet Shaked: something new begins in Israeli politics.] (in Hebrew). North Star. 18 January 2013. 
  8. ^ Ayelet Shaked (16 November 2011). "בקרוב: מאה אלף מסתננים בישראל]" [Soon: a hundred thousand infiltrators in Israel] (in Hebrew). Mako. 
  9. ^ "An interview with Ayelet Shaked - Israel". Jewish Journal. 
  10. ^ a b Shaked, Ayelet (16 July 2014). "Exposing militant leftist propaganda". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 18 July 2014. 
  11. ^ Abunimah, Ali (7 July 2014). "Israeli lawmaker's call for genocide of Palestinians gets thousands of Facebook likes". Electronic Intifada. Retrieved 12 May 2015. 
  12. ^ Wiener, Julie (7 May 2014). "Who is Ayelet Shaked, Israel's new justice minister?". Jewish Telegraph Agency. 
  13. ^ Tharoor, Ishaan (7 May 2014). "Israel's new justice minister considers all Palestinians to be 'the enemy'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 12 May 2015. 
  14. ^ "'Mothers of all Palestinians should also be killed,' says Israeli politician". Daily Sabah. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2015. 
  15. ^ Hillel, Mira Bar (11 July 2014). "Why I'm on the brink of burning my Israeli passport". The Independent. Retrieved 13 October 2015. 
  16. ^ a b O'Grady, Siobhan (7 May 2014). "The New Face of Israel's Hard Right". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 12 May 2015. 
  17. ^ "Israeli Politician Declares 'War' on 'the Palestinian People'". Haaretz. 
  18. ^ Keinon, Herb (20 July 2014). "Netanyahu finally calls out Erdogan for anti-Semitic statements". The Jerusalem Post. 
  19. ^ Shaked is top vote-getter in Jewish Home primaries The Times of Israel, 15 January 2015
  20. ^ The Jewish Home CEC
  21. ^ Azulay, Moran (6 May 2015). "Netanyahu gives Bayit Yehudi's Shaked the Justice Ministry, but with limited powers". Tel Aviv, Israel: Ynetnews. Retrieved 6 May 2015. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed Wednesday to appoint Bayit Yehudi MK Ayelet Shaked as justice minister, but insisted that her powers be curtailed. 
  22. ^ "In the 11th hour, Netanyahu finalizes 61-strong coalition". The Times of Israel. Jerusalem. 6 May 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2015. Prime minister reaches deal with Jewish home's Bennett, finalizing a right-wing government; two men set to deliver a statement; Ayelet Shaked will be named justice minister. 
  23. ^ Heller, Jeffrey (6 May 2015). "Netanyahu clinches deal to form new Israeli government". London: Reuters. Retrieved 6 May 2015. 
  24. ^ a b c Tova Tzimoki (21 July 2015). "Justice Minister: Remove legal ambiguity from settlements". Ynetnews. 
  25. ^ Booth, William (31 January 2016). "Israel doesn't trust NGOs that get money from U.S. and Europe. Here's why". The Washington Post. Retrieved 31 January 2016. 
  26. ^ "Terror bill passes into law". The Jerusalem Post. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2016. 
  27. ^ Talks with a Tel Aviv Settler Haaretz, 22.06.2012
  28. ^ Meltzer, Yoel (15 August 2012). "An Interview with Ayelet Shaked, Secular Candidate for HaBayit HaYehudi". The Jewish Press. 
  29. ^ "Victory stems from the ability to break stigmas". Globes. 5 December 2012. 
  30. ^ "כבוד לבית היהודי: איילת שקד - הח"כית המצטיינת במושב האחרון" [Jewish respect to: Ayelet Shaked - outstanding MK last session] (in Hebrew). 29 August 2013. 
  31. ^ "ירוג השרים והח"כים: בנט ושקד בשלישייה הפותחת" [Rating ministers and MKs: Bennett and Shaked trio opens] (in Hebrew). 27 March 2014. 
  32. ^ Maariv Weekend, 22 May 2015
  33. ^ מעריב השבוע, 19 August 2015.
  34. ^ Vered Ramon Rivlin (8 September 2015). "אשת השנה של "ליידי גלובס": שרת המשפטים איילת שקד" ["Lady Globes" Woman of the Year: Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked]. Lady Globes (in Hebrew). 

External links[edit]