Gila Gamliel

Gila Gamliel (Hebrew: גִּלָּה גַּמְלִיאֵל‎, born 24 February 1974) is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for Likud, and as Minister of Environmental Protection. She also previously served as Minister for Social Equality.

Gila Gamliel
Date of birth (1974-02-24) 24 February 1974
Place of birthGedera, Israel
Knessets16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23
Faction represented in Knesset
2003–2006Likud
2009–Likud
Ministerial roles
2015–2020Minister for Social Equality
2020–Minister of Environmental Protection

Early life and education

Gamliel was born in Gedera, Israel, to a Jewish family. Her father, Yosef, was from Yemen, and her mother, Eliza, was from Libya. Gamliel studied at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, where she was awarded a BA in Middle Eastern history and philosophy, and an MA in philosophy. During her time as a student, she was elected chairwoman of the university's student union. She was controversially re-elected to the post after her boyfriend, Sagiv Assulin, had removed members who opposed Gamliel's candidacy from the association's steering council.[1] She also served as the first woman chair of the National Students' Association, and later obtained a Bachelor of Laws at the Ono Academic College and a Master of Laws at the Bar-Ilan University.

Career

For the 1999 elections, Gamliel was placed 25th on the Likud list,[2] but missed out on a place in the Knesset when the party won only 19 seats. In 2003, she surprisingly won 11th place on the Likud list for the elections that year, ahead of several cabinet ministers. She became a Knesset member when the party won 38 seats, standing down as head of the Ben-Gurion University students' union, where she was replaced by Assulin.[1] Following her election to the Knesset, police decided to open an investigation into the suspected transfer of student funds into a private company.[3] She was also accused of blackmailing a fellow student council member in order to retain the chairmanship of the students' association of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev at the time.[4] Gamliel denied both accusations. In November 2003, the fraud police decided to stop the investigations against her because of the lack of enough evidence.[5]

In June 2003, she and three other Likud MKs were banned from the Likud faction for three months after voting against government economic policy.[6] During her first term in the Knesset, she chaired the committee on the Status of Women, and in March 2005 was appointed Deputy Minister of Agriculture.

Gamliel missed out on a place on the Likud list for the 2006 elections, and lost her seat. Prior to the 2009 elections, she won nineteenth place on the party's list, and returned to the Knesset, as Likud won 27 seats. On 1 April 2009, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Gamliel as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office in his new government, with the portfolio of the Advancement of Young People, Students, and Women.

In the 2013 elections, she was re-elected to the Knesset, but lost her Deputy Ministerial post. She was also re-elected in the 2015 elections, after which she was appointed Minister for Senior Citizens in the new government (changed in Minister for Social Equality in August 2015).[7]

On 17 May 2020, Gamliel took up a different cabinet post when she was sworn in as Minister of Environmental Protection.[8]

Personal life

Whilst at Ben-Gurion University, Gamliel dated Sagiv Assulin, with whom she worked closely together in the students' association, with the couple becoming known as "Sagilon". Assulin was also on the Likud list for the 2009 elections, but in 35th place, and he failed to win a seat.[1] Gamliel is now married, with two daughters, and lives in Tel Aviv.[9]

She has five elder brothers. Her father's family, the Gamliels, are a big family of Yemenite Jews in Gila's birthplace, Gedera. Her mother is a Libyan Jew, originating from Tripoli. Other family members of Gila are politicians as well: Her brother, Chaim, is/was chairman of Likud in Gedera; her uncle, Yoel Gamliel, is mayor of Gedera; and another relative, Aryeh Gamliel, is a former member of the Knesset for Shas.[10]

On 3 October 2020, Gamliel tested positive for COVID-19.[11] Gamliel did not at first disclose to investigators from the Health Ministry that she traveled from her home in Tel Aviv to Tiberias for Yom Kippur during a national lockdown. She had instead told investigators from the Health Ministry that she caught COVID-19 from her driver. Upon the disclosure that Gamliel apparently violated the lockdown and was not forthcoming with health investigators, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel called for her to resign from the Knesset.[12]

References
  1. The young man, the ponytail and the Jewish Leadership faction, Haaretz, December 11, 2008
  2. Parties and Lists Archived April 18, 2001, at the Wayback Machine, The Jerusalem Post, 1999
  3. Report: Likud's Gila Gamliel suspected of improper financial dealings, Haaretz, December 11, 2002
  4. PM: I'll expel any Likud member who committed improper acts, Haaretz, December 17, 2002
  5. Police drop probes into Ramat Gan mayor and Likud MK, Haaretz, November 12, 2003
  6. Faction punishes 4 Likud MKs for not backing gov't plan The four won't be allowed private bills, Haaretz, June 3, 2003
  7. Gila Gamliel, MK. Minister for Social Equality (Likud), Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  8. "After year of deadlock and days of delays, Knesset swears in new Israeli government". Haaretz.com. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  9. אמא ח"כית בתקופת בחירות מצליחה לראות את הילדים? Mako, 10 January 2013
  10. The pride of Gedera moves to the national stage, Haaretz, December 15, 2002
  11. https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/israels-environment-minister-tests-positive/1948399
  12. https://www.timesofisrael.com/minister-broke-lockdown-for-yom-kippur-prayers-days-before-virus-diagnosis/
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