Zehava Galon | |
|---|---|
| זהבה גלאון | |
.jpg) Zehava Galon in 2020 | |
| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 1999–2009 | Meretz |
| 2011–2017 | Meretz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Zlata Shnipitskaya (1956-01-04)4 January 1956 (age 69) Vilnius,Lithuanian SSR,Soviet Union |
| Spouse | Pesach |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | Beit Berl College |
Zehava Galon (Hebrew:זהבה גלאון; born 4 January 1956), is anIsraeli politician, the president of the research instituteZULAT for Equality and Human Rights and former leader ofMeretz.
Galon served as a member of theKnesset from 1999 to 2017 and ran as the leader of Meretz in the2022 Israeli legislative election but failed to pass theelectoral threshold.
Zehava Galon was born in 1956 inVilnius in theSoviet Union (now inLithuania). Sheimmigrated at age four to Israel in 1960 with her parents: father Aryeh (born 30 December 1925), a plumber for a subsidiary ofSolel Boneh (a construction company), and mother, Yaffa (19 February 1923 – 10 March 2012), a teacher. They lived in ama'abara transit camp and eventually moved to a housing project inPetah Tikva.[1] During her service in theIsrael Defense Forces, Galon served as a clerk in theParatroopers Brigade. She holds a B.E.D. degree in special education fromBeit Berl College, an M.A. in philosophy of education from theHebrew University, and completed doctoral studies ingender studies atBar-Ilan University (without submitting a research thesis).[2]
Galon is married to Pesah (born 5 December 1953). They have two sons, Yiftah (born 4 March 1980) and Nadav (born 28 January 1982), she has 6 grandchildren, and still lives in Petah Tikva.[3]
Galon was first listed on the 11th place onMeretz list in the1996 Israeli legislative election, butMeretz only won nine seats.[4] She elected to the Knesset in 1999 and was one of the Knesset's most outstanding members, active and highly esteemed by the entire House. She served as head of the Meretz faction in the Knesset for a decade and was a member of the main committees, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Finance Committee. Galon founded and served as head of the Committee of Inquiry on the Trafficking of Women for seven years.
Galon started her political career in the 1980s; she led the successful struggle against religious coercion in Petah Tikva, was secretary general of the Ratz party, co-founded and became the first Executive Director ofB'Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. In the 1990s, Galon served as one of Meretz's co-secretaries general. Later on, Galon served as the executive director of the Tel Aviv-basedInternational Center for Peace in the Middle East (ICPME).
In regards to militaryconscientious objectors of theIsrael Defense Forces (IDF), therefuseniks, she has said that "Meretz should not go with the wind of refusal, but should not try to oppose it. We are a party that believes in ideological pluralism and should not bury our heads in the sand. Meretz must show empathy towards the refuseniks and must bring the matter up for public discussion and reveal the reasons why the officers are refusing to serve."[5]
She was elected to theKnesset in1999, and served as chairwoman of the Knesset committee for the struggle againsttrafficking in women.[6] She was a member of the Knesset law and constitution committee and the Knesset committee.[clarification needed][3] That same year, she also called for a repeal of theLaw of Return, stating that "The Law of Return is discriminatory, it discriminates between Jews and non-Jews. I can accept that after the Holocaust, it was kind of a necessity. But maybe after 51 years, we are not in the same situation, and we don't need to run our country based on such undemocratic laws."[7]
In 2007, Galon launched an unsuccessful bid to become the leader of Meretz in the2008 Meretz leadership election. She expressed her belief that the party needed to reinvent itself and promote a civilian agenda, which encompasseshuman rights andcivil liberties, in order to remain politically viable. Galon said that Meretz could not afford to watch while other parties adopted some of its long-time positions, and it must work to cement the principles of democracy and equality in Israeli society. She lost toHaim Oron, as the polls predicted.[8]
Galon volunteered her third spot on theMeretz list for the2009 elections as a gesture of respect forNitzan Horowitz, but lost her seat when the party was reduced to three seats. She attributed the party's failure to its uncertain response to Israel'sOperation Cast Lead, and said: "My opinion was different than that of most party members. Because Meretz is an ideological party, it must have a clear statement even in such a situation".[9] In March 2011 she returned to the Knesset after Haim Oron retired.[1]
On 7 February 2012, Galon was elected as Meretz party chair, with more than 60% of the vote in the party's primaries.[10] In the2013 legislative elections Meretz doubled its number of seats from three to six. Prior to the2015 legislative election, Galon said during the campaign that she would resign if the party won only four seats. When preliminary results of the2015 election indicated that the party would be reduced in representation, Galon announced she would resign as chairperson of Meretz as soon as a successor is chosen, and from the Knesset in order to open a place forTamar Zandberg, the party's fifth-place candidate, who appeared to have lost her seat. Zandberg,Ilan Gilon and others urged Galon to reconsider her decision.[11] Once absentee and soldier ballots were counted, Meretz gained a fifth seat.[12]
With this success, Galon announced that she would continue as party leader.[13] She said: "Meretz received a fifth seat from young supporters, from Israeli soldiers, who raised the party's rate of support. That allowed Meretz to maintain its strength in terms of the number of voters – some 170,000 – compared with the last election. Under the circumstances and against all odds, that is a success."[14]
In October 2017 Galon resigned from the Knesset, but said she would remain leader of Meretz. Her seat was taken byMossi Raz.[15] Galon initially announced her candidacy for the 2018 Meretz leadership race, but eventually dropped out.[16]Tamar Zandberg was elected party chair.[17]
In 2020, Galon established theNGOZulat for Equality and Human Rights, and she serves as the organization's president.[18]
Following her retirement from political life,[when?] Galon became a regular columnist for the liberalHaaretz daily newspaper.[19]
Coming out of political retirement, Galon announced on 19 July 2022 that she would run inthe Meretz leadership election that was scheduled to take place on 23 August.[20] Galon was elected, defeatingYair Golan.[21] Galon led Meretz into alegislative election in November, in which the party failed to cross theelectoral threshold, winning no seats as a result. On 17 November 2022, Galon announced her intention to resign as party leader. She also rejoinedHaaretz as a columnist.[22][needs update]
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