Karine Elharrar-Hartstein (, born 9 October 1977) is an Israeli lawyer and politician who currently serves as a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

for

Yesh Atid Yesh Atid ( he, יֵשׁ עָתִיד, , There Is a Future) is a liberal political party in Israel. Founded by Yair Lapid in 2012, it seeks to represent what it considers the centre of Israeli society: the secular middle class. It focuses pr ...

. She was Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources from 2021 to 2022.

Biography

Elharrar was born in

Kiryat Ono Kiryat Ono ( he, קִרְיַת אוֹנוֹ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel. It is located east of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Modern Kiryat Ono is not to be confused with the biblical Ono, which was located in the ar ...

to Moti and Colette Elharrar, who were

Moroccan Jewish Moroccan Jews ( ar, اليهود المغاربة, al-Yahūd al-Maghāriba he, יהודים מרוקאים, Yehudim Maroka'im) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews b ...

immigrants. Elharrar attended Kugel High School, and studied law at the College of Management Academic Studies for a bachelor's degree, before gaining an LLM from the

Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleytown section of nort ...

at American University. Between 2008 and 2013 she headed the legal clinic at

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academi ...

, and specialised in the rights of Holocaust survivors, people with disabilities, and pensioners. Elharrar lives in Rishon LeZion, and is married with two children. She has muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair.

Political career

She joined the new

party in 2012 and was placed tenth on the party's list for the 2013 Knesset elections. She entered the Knesset as the party won 19 seats. She was placed eighth on the party's list for the

2015 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in the year 2015. Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burun ...

, and was re-elected as the party won 11 seats. She was re-elected in elections in April 2019, September 2019 and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, during which Yesh Atid was part of the Blue and White alliance. After being re-elected again in the March 2021 elections, she was appointed Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources in the new government. In June she resigned from the Knesset under the Norwegian Law and was replaced by Inbar Bezek. Elharrar made headlines during the

COP26 The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The ...

conference in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, after she was forced to return to her hotel in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

due to the event not being wheelchair-accessible. She received an apology from British Prime Minister

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

, with the disability charity

Scope Scope or scopes may refer to: People with the surname * Jamie Scope (born 1986), English footballer * John T. Scopes (1900–1970), central figure in the Scopes Trial regarding the teaching of evolution Arts, media, and entertainment * Cinem ...

calling the incident "inexcusable"; however, Elharrar said it was "a good experience to make sure the next UN conference will be accessible."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elharrar, Karine 1977 births Living people 21st-century Israeli lawyers 21st-century Israeli women politicians Members of the Knesset with disabilities Israeli Jews Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) Members of the 21st Knesset (2019) Members of the 22nd Knesset (2019–2020) Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021) Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) Members of the 25th Knesset (2022–) People from Kiryat Ono People with muscular dystrophy Washington College of Law alumni Ministers of Energy of Israel Ministers of Infrastructure of Israel Ministers of Water of Israel Women members of the Knesset Yesh Atid politicians Government ministers with disabilities Wheelchair users Lawyers with disabilities

Biography

Political career

See also

References

External links