Blue and White leader Benny Gantz appointed MK Omer Yankelevich as diaspora affairs minister on Thursday. Yankelevich is an ultra-Orthodox (haredi) resident of Beit Shemesh. Yankelevich, who was educated in the haredi school system in both Gateshead in the UK and Bnei Brak, is not your typical haredi woman. She is a veteran of dialogue groups among sectors in Israeli society and an active member of the Knesset’s Jewish People’s Caucus, where she meets Reform and Conservative leaders. Yankelevich would replace current minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud). Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog had only positive things to say about Yankelevich, whom he said he has gotten to know well.
“We will welcome anyone who serves the unity of the Jewish people,” he said on Tuesday. Rabbi Josh Weinberg, who serves as the Executive Director of ARZA, the Association of Reform Zionists of America, said that he would look forward to building a relationship with her in her role as minister. Weinberg said that “we look forward to introducing her to our movement and its vibrancy and to working together with her and her office in favor of pluralism, tolerance and unity.” Jewish leaders speaking anonymously spoke more openly about Yankelevich, calling her “smart, caring” and saying that “she can actually make change.” They noted that her parents are formerly secular and she has no problem meeting pluralist leaders, unlike other haredim. “Everyone is open-minded about her,” a Jewish leader said. “No one has complained. It is important that someone like her will speak to all streams.” Rabbi Gilad Kariv, who heads the Reform Movement in Israel, said he had never met Yankelevich and was not aware of which Reform rabbis had. One Jewish leader noted that “there was hysteria before Hotovely got the job,” because she is Orthodox and had made comments critical of American Jews, but she met with Diaspora leaders across the religious spectrum and pleasantly surprised them. Hotovely is expected to remain in the cabinet as Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage minister, with responsibility for issues related to religious Zionism that would have gone to Yamina had the party entered the coalition. Like Hotovely, Yankelevich learned about Diaspora Jewry from living abroad. She obtained a BA in teaching from Cambridge University before earning a BA in law from Ono College and a Masters in law from Bar Ilan University. In 2015, she established the Just Begun Foundation to help encourage development in Israel’s “social periphery,” particularly in haredi society, including initiatives to encourage and assist haredi artists and promote “personal and public leadership” in the community.
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