Tzipi Hotovely
Tzipi Hotovely (Hebrew: ציפי חוטובלי, born 2 December 1978) is an Israeli politician and a doctorate student at the Faculty of Law in Tel Aviv University. She is a former panelist on the Channel 10 program "Moetzet HaHakhamim" (Council of the Wise) and Maariv columnist, and currently serves as a member of the Knesset as a self-described "religious rightwinger" for the Likud party.[1]
Early life
Hotovely's parents immigrated to Israel, from Georgia. She was born and grew up in Rehovot and graduated from the 'Bnot Akiva' ulpanit (a national-religious high school for girls) in Tel Aviv.
She completed her Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Bar-Ilan University, graduating with honors. Upon completion of her academic studies she interned in the law office of Ram Caspi in Tel Aviv, specializing in Corporate Law, and became a certified lawyer in 2003. Between 2003 and 2005 she served as the editor of Bar-Ilan's Journal of Law, and later chose to continue her academic career, beginning her studies for a doctorate at Tel Aviv University. During her studies she was active in the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS), and represented the organization at a student conference in South Africa. She was also the representative of the World Bnei Akiva movement in Paris. She has a higher education in Judaism, having studied at the Bruria Seminary in Jerusalem, and the Girl's Seminary at Bar-Ilan University.
Media career
In 2006, she joined the panel of the political discussion program "Moetzet HaHahamim" (Council of the Wise) on Channel 10, hosted by Dan Margalit. Among the panel's members were journalists Amnon Dankner, the late Tommy Lapid, Ari Shavit and Gideon Levy. Hotovely represented the right-wing on the panel, and was among the critics of the Olmert government following the 2006 Lebanon War. She supported the reserve soldiers' demonstrations, and called on the country's leadership to resign.
Also in 2006, she started writing opinion pieces for Maariv concerning current political issues, and since 2007 she has a regular column in the Judaism section of nrg, the subject being the link between topics in Judaism and current events. She took part in several television programs on Channel 2: "Osim Seder" (putting in order) with Ben Caspit, "Talking of Current Events" with Dalia Neumann, and "Medinat Halakha" with Uri Orbakh and Sarah Blau. She also participated as a guest host in the program "HaBayit HaYehudi" (The Jewish House) on Channel 1.
Political career
On 11 November 2008, she announced that she was joining Likud, and would compete in the party's primaries for the 18th Knesset. She made the 18th slot on the party's list for the 2009 elections, and became a member of the Knesset.[2] At the age of 30, she is the Knesset's youngest current member.
References
- ^ http://www.jewishpress.com/pageroute.do/39906/ July 1st, 2009 Interview in the Jewish Press
- ^ Ilan, Shahar. "The freshman". Haaretz. Retrieved 2009-02-21.
External links
Tzipi Hotovely on the Knesset website