Colette Avital (; born 1 May 1939) is a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i diplomat and politician. She served as a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

for the Labor Party and

One Israel One Israel (, ''Yisrael Ahat'') was an alliance of the Labor Party, Meimad and Gesher created to run for the 1999 Knesset elections. Background One Israel was formed by Labor leader Ehud Barak in the run-up to the 1999 elections with the ...

between 1999 and 2009.

Biography

Born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Avital made

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

to Israel with her family in 1950. While still a student, she began working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a secretary in order to cover the cost of her tuition. Over the years, she rose through the ranks at the ministry; she served with the Israeli delegation to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

between 1982 and 1985, as ambassador to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

from 1988 until 1992, and as

Consul General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

between 1992 and 1996. Upon returning to Israel, she was appointed Deputy Director in Charge of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

, the third most important position in the ministry. In

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, Avital decided to run for the Knesset on behalf of the Labor Party, which formed the

alliance together with Gesher and Meimad. Although she claimed 24th spot on the party list, Labor won only 23 seats in the May elections (One Israel won 26, of which two went to Gesher and one to Meimad) and Avital missed out. However, she entered the Knesset in November 1999 when Labor MK Matan Vilnai resigned. She served briefly as Chair of the Ethics Committee and headed the Investigative Commission for the Identification and Return of the Property of Holocaust Victims, which submitted its conclusions to the government in 2005. She chaired the

Immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

, Absorption, and

Diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

Committee and in addition serves as the International Secretary of the Israeli Labor Party. In 2007, Avital was a candidate in the Israeli presidential election, together with

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

and Reuven Rivlin, the first ever woman candidate for the Israeli presidency. Despite voices from her own party calling her to withdraw from the race in favor of ex-labor leader

, Avital remained in the race. After an undecided first round, Avital withdrew from the race and endorsed Peres' candidacy, Rivlin followed suit, and Peres won the second round of balloting. In June 2007, as part of a public relation effort by the New York Israeli consulate, ''Maxim'' magazine published photographs of Israeli models, all soldiers in the Israeli Defence Forces in a feature titled "Women of the Israeli Defence Forces". The feature drew an angry reaction from Avital: "There are enough beautiful and interesting things we can use to tap this demographic than to show a half-naked woman in a magazine of this kind, considered pornographic". Placed 19th on the list, she lost her seat in the 2009 elections when the party was reduced to 13 seats. In October 2021 Avital claimed that

, who died in 2016, had sexually harassed her.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avital, Colette 1939 births Romanian Jews Romanian emigrants to Israel Israeli civil servants 20th-century Romanian civil servants Romanian women civil servants Israeli women civil servants Consuls for Israel Ambassadors of Israel to Portugal Women members of the Knesset Officers of the Legion of Honour Living people Israeli Labor Party politicians One Israel politicians Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Deputy speakers of the Knesset 21st-century Israeli women politicians 20th-century Israeli women politicians Israeli women ambassadors Candidates for President of Israel 21st-century Romanian civil servants