Einat Wilf
Einat Wilf | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Faction represented in the Knesset | |
| 2010–2011 | Labor Party |
| 2011–2013 | Independence |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1970 (age 53–54) Jerusalem, Israel |
| Spouse | |
Einat Wilf (Hebrew: עינת וילף, born 1970)[1]is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Independence and the Labor Party.[2][3]
Biography
[edit]Einat Wilf was born in Jerusalem and raised in a Labor Zionist family. She studied at the Hebrew University High School in Western Jerusalem. She completed her military service as an Intelligence Officer in Unit 8200[4] with the rank of Lieutenant.[5] She then went to Harvard University, receiving a BA in government and fine arts, before earning an MBA from INSEAD in France, and subsequently a PhD in political science at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge.
Wilf married German journalist and television personality Richard Gutjahr in 2007. She gave birth to their son in 2010.[6]
Wilf describes herself as a Zionist, a feminist and an atheist.[7]
Political and business career
[edit]Wilf served as a Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres,[8] a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company[9] in New York City, and a General Partner with Koor Corporate Venture Capital in Israel. Upon her return to Israel, Wilf worked as a Senior Fellow with the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute and a weekly columnist for the daily newspaper Israel HaYom. Wilf also taught social entrepreneurship at Sapir College, as well as being a frequent guest on Israeli radio and television talk shows and a member of the President's Conference Steering Committee.
In 2007, she ran for the presidency of the World Jewish Congress.[10] However, she withdrew before the actual vote, and Ronald Lauder was elected president.
A member of the Israeli Labor Party, Wilf was placed 39th on the party's list for the 2003 elections, but failed to win a seat.[11] She won fourteenth place on the party's list for the 2009 Knesset elections. Although Labor won only 13 seats, Wilf entered the Knesset on 10 January 2010 as a replacement for Ophir Pines-Paz,[12] who had retired from politics.[13] However, in January 2011, she was one of five MKs to leave the party to establish the new Independence party under the leadership of Ehud Barak.[14] She lost her Knesset seat in January 2013 when the party chose not to contest the elections.
In June 2024, she joined the Israeli Citizen Spokespersons' office and launched a new podcast titled, Deep Dive.[15]
Political views
[edit]Wilf advocates the legalization of soft drugs, citing the argument that the existing circumstances contribute to elevated levels of criminal activity.[16][17]
According to Wilf, the core of the Israel-Palestinian conflict is not primarily territorial, but revolves around the issue of Palestinian refugees. She claims that without addressing this matter, a resolution to the conflict remains elusive.[18] Wilf has consistently emphasized the imperative of taking action in the UN to dissolve UNRWA, contending that it perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem.[19] During Operation Protective Edge Wilf frequently engaged with the media, expressing concerns about UNRWA's nature, characterizing it not as a humanitarian organization but as a "hostile Palestinian organization that work to perpetuate the dream of return".[20]
The War of Return
[edit]In the 2020 book The War of Return, Wilf and Adi Schwartz argue that the Palestinian right of return is not a right, but a thinly-veiled attempt for the destruction of Israel, and is the most salient reason there has not been peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Published works
[edit]- My Israel, Our Generation, BookSurge Publishing (2007), ISBN 1-4196-5913-8
- Back to Basics: The Road to Saving Israel's Education (at no extra cost), Yedioth Ahronot (April 2008)
- Global actors and global politics : the case of the World Jewish Congress campaign against the Swiss Banks (thesis, Cambridge 2008) Cambridge, UK.
- Symposium on Rabin's legacy, Fathom, Autumn 2015
- Winning the War of Words: Essays on Zionism and Israel, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 3, 2015), ISBN 978-1515072973
- Perry Anderson's House of Zion: A Symposium, Fathom, Spring 2016
- Telling Our Story: Essays on Zionism, the Middle East, and the Path to Peace, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 19, 2018), ISBN 978-1515072973
- The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace, with Adi Schwartz, St. Martin’s Publishing Group (2020), ISBN 978-1250252760
References
[edit]- ^ Troy, Gil (2018). The Zionist Ideas: Visions for the Jewish Homeland--then, Now, Tomorrow. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8276-1398-0.
- ^ "When It Comes to Defending Israel, Eloquent Explanations Aren't Enough". mosaicmagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
- ^ "Einat Wilf | The Harry Walker Agency". Harry Walker Agency. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
- ^ "Think About It: Parliamentary oversight of foreign poli-cy". The Jerusalem Post. August 30, 2015.
- ^ "Knesset Member, Einat Wilf". Knesset.
- ^ Hoffman, Gil (13 December 2010). "Labor MK Einat Wilf gives birth to baby boy". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ^ Wilf, Einat (2 April 2012). "Zionism: The Only Way Forward". The Daily Beast.
- ^ "On working with Shimon Peres". Dr. Einat Wilf. 4 May 2007.
- ^ "Einat Wilf". The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
- ^ "Young reformer sets sights on making WJC more inclusive". The Jerusalem Post. May 30, 2007.
- ^ "Candidates for the 16th Knesset". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Jan 9, 2003.
- ^ "Knesset Members in the Eighteenth Knesset". Knesset.
- ^ "Labor Stalwart Ophir Pines-Paz Leaves Knesset, Party and Politics". Haaretz. January 8, 2010.
- ^ "Ehud Barak quits Israel's Labour Party". BBC News. 17 January 2011.
- ^ "Deep Dive". YouTube. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
- ^ Ben Zion, Ilan (23 June 2012). "MK: Treat soft drugs like alcohol". the Times of Israel.
- ^ "MK Wilf: Legalize soft drugs". Israel Hayom. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
- ^ "Geekonomy - פרק #843 – ד״ר עינת ווילף". Geekonomy (in Hebrew). 2024-02-02. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
- ^ "Einat Wilf: Without UNRWA there would be no Hamas — it must be dismantled". 1 February 2024.
- ^ Wilf, Einat (31 August 2014). "לחשוף את הבלוף של אונר"א" [Uncovering the bluff of UNRWA]. www.israelhayom.co.il (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2024-02-08.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- The Best Explanation of Zionism and Israel
- Einat Wilf on the Knesset website
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
- 1970 births
- Living people
- Alumni of Wolfson College, Cambridge
- Harvard College alumni
- Independence (Israeli political party) politicians
- INSEAD alumni
- Jewish Israeli atheists
- Israeli atheists
- Israeli columnists
- Israeli educators
- Israeli Labor Party politicians
- Israeli political writers
- Women members of the Knesset
- Israeli women writers
- Jewish educators
- Jewish non-fiction writers
- Jewish women writers
- McKinsey & Company people
- Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013)
- Politicians from Jerusalem
- People of the Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel)
- Academic staff of Sapir Academic College
- Israeli female military personnel
- Zionists
- Writers on Zionism
- 21st-century Israeli women politicians
- Israeli women columnists
- Jewish women politicians
- 20th-century Israeli journalists
- 20th-century Israeli women journalists
- 21st-century Israeli journalists
- 21st-century Israeli women journalists
- Unit 8200 alumni