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Yitzhak (Itzik) Shmuli (; born 8 February 1980) is an Israeli politician who served as the Minister of Labor, Welfare and Social Services and as a Member of the Knesset on behalf of the
Israeli Labor Party The Israeli Labor Party (), commonly known in Israel as HaAvoda (), was a Social democracy, social democratic political party in Israel. The party was established in 1968 by a merger of Mapai, Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi (political party), Rafi. Unt ...
; formerly chairman of National Union of Israeli Students, and one of the leaders of the
2011 Israeli social justice protests The 2011 Israeli social justice protests (), #Naming, which are also referred to by various other names in the media, were a series of demonstrations in Israel beginning in July 2011 involving hundreds of thousands of protesters from a variety o ...
. Shmuli currently serves as UJA-Federation of New York's Director-General in its Israel office.


Biography

Yitzhak (Itzik) Shmuli was born in
Tel Aviv, Israel Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
on 8 February 1980, to Nechama and Chaim Shmuli. His family originated from
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
, he is maternal of Kurdish descent. At the age of 3, his family moved to
Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...
, and He attended Yitzhak Rabin Tichon Hadash High School in Ramat Gan In 1998, Shmuli enlisted in the Israel Defense Force Armored Corps and served as a tank commander of the 7th Armored Brigade's 82nd Battalion in
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 ...
and
Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
. At 23, he traveled to
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, helping to establish and operate an orphanage in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
as a volunteer. After returning to Israel in 2004, Shmuli attended Oranim Academic College, and graduated with a B.Ed. with Honors in
Special Education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...
and Social-Community Action. During his first year at Oranim, he was elected head of the Student Union. In that position, he led a campaign against the Shochat Committee, which sought to privatize higher education and raise tuition fees. In the beginning of 2009, Shmuli was elected deputy chairman of the National Union of Israeli Students, unifying the Israeli Students Organization with the Union of Israeli Students the two largest student unions in Israel. He led the student negotiating team in discussions on comprehensive reform in the higher education system. Key reforms included increasing contract workers into higher education institutions and advocating for community service requirements for undergraduate courses. in 2010 he went on to study a
Master of Public Policy The Master of Public Policy (MPP) is a graduate-level professional degree. It provides training in policy analysis and program evaluation at public policy schools. The MPP program places a focus on the systematic analysis of issues related to pu ...
from
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...
and a
Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...
at
Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''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 academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...
. In October 2010, he was elected as chairman of National Union of Israeli Students, the first representative elected from one of Israel's colleges. As chairman, he served on the Council for Higher Education and directed other National Union of Israeli Students ventures including Issta Lines touring company. He served on the board of directors of the Civic Trust organization. Shmuli was one of the leaders of the
2011 Israeli social justice protests The 2011 Israeli social justice protests (), #Naming, which are also referred to by various other names in the media, were a series of demonstrations in Israel beginning in July 2011 involving hundreds of thousands of protesters from a variety o ...
in advocating for housing and cost of living expenses affecting the middle and lower class of Israelis. He successfully rallied student associations to actively support the protest, expanding demonstration participation across
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 ...
, He conducted speeches at most rallies across the country. In August 2011, he was among a group of protest leaders who met with President
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 ...
.Greer Fay Cahsman
A late but welcome apology
The Jerusalem Post, 31 July 2021
In November 2011, Shmuli relocated to the city of Lod and initiated a social action campaign to strengthen the city stating. In July 2012, Shmuli resigned from his position as chairman of the National Union of Israeli Students.


Political career

Shmuli was a member of the
Israeli Labor Party The Israeli Labor Party (), commonly known in Israel as HaAvoda (), was a Social democracy, social democratic political party in Israel. The party was established in 1968 by a merger of Mapai, Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi (political party), Rafi. Unt ...
, serving in the Knesset from 2012 to 2021. Shmuli represented the
Zionist Union The Zionist Union (, translit. ''HaMaḥaneh HaẒiyoni'', lit. ''the Zionist Camp'') was a centre-left political alliance in Israel. It was established in December 2014 by the Israeli Labor Party and Hatnuah to create a joint electoral list ...
Political Alliance. In October 2012, Shmuli announced his intention to run in the
Israeli Labor Party The Israeli Labor Party (), commonly known in Israel as HaAvoda (), was a Social democracy, social democratic political party in Israel. The party was established in 1968 by a merger of Mapai, Ahdut HaAvoda and Rafi (political party), Rafi. Unt ...
primaries for the 19th
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 ...
. Shmuli was placed in the party's 11th slot for the Knesset list. In the 19th Knesset, Shmuli served as a member of the Economic Affairs Committee and participated in bills to improve equality for veterans, promote financial education and subsidised housing. Shmuli headed several lobbies in the Knesset, including the Retirees Lobby, the Lobby for Lone Soldiers, the Affordable Housing Lobby, the Animal Lobby and the Lobby for Pluralistic Judaism against Religious Fanaticism. In July 2015, following a stabbing incident at Jerusalem's gay pride parade, Shmuli wrote in an article to
Yedioth Ahronoth (, ; lit. "Latest News") is an Israeli daily mass market newspaper published in Tel Aviv. Founded in 1939, is Israel's largest paid newspaper by sales and circulation and has been described as "undoubtedly the country's number-one paper."
that ''"when the knife is raised around the neck of an entire LGBT community, my community, it will not stop there"''; in this article, he became the first Knesset Member who came out of the closet during his term. In elections for the 20th Knesset, Shmuli was placed fifth on the list of the
Zionist Union The Zionist Union (, translit. ''HaMaḥaneh HaẒiyoni'', lit. ''the Zionist Camp'') was a centre-left political alliance in Israel. It was established in December 2014 by the Israeli Labor Party and Hatnuah to create a joint electoral list ...
, after reaching third place in the Labor primaries, and was thus elected to the 20th Knesset. In 2019, following the 23rd Knesset elections Shmuli, on behalf of the Labour faction was appointed Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Social Services as part of the 35th Israeli Government. On 17 May 2020, Shmuli joined the Israeli Cabinet after being sworn in as Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services, also known as Minister of Welfare. After taking office, in May 2020 amid the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Shmuli allocated $10B+ NIS to the welfare system as emergency funds to be awarded to families who lost employment due to the pandemic. To aid with retraining of skilled labour, Shmuli allocated an additional $300M NIS to vocational training systems. During his term, he worked on reforms to the Disability Benefits Act, increased funding of NIS $2B to the disabled population and made alterations to pension contributions, improving accessibility of work for this demographic. In August 2020, Shmuli initiated the Magen Zahav program, addressing welfare concerns for elderly people during COVID-19, applying a budget of NIS $150M in welfare payments. This program engaged the Israel Defence Force and initiated the ‘Friends in Uniform’ Initiative, connecting soldiers with elderly citizens in the community. As Minister of Labour, Shmuli established inter-ministerial teams to support the
LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...
community, resulting in legislation changes around adoption and assisted sperm donation, and providing legal assistance and expenses of overseas surrogacy proceedings. He also initiated programs to improve health and social access to the LGBTQ community, opening 6 outreach centres. In February 2021 After the election of Merav Michaeli as chair of the Labour Party, Shmuli announced that he was resigning from the Knesset and ministerial roles to take a break from politics, stating that it had been a mistake to join the Netanyahu government. In August 2021, he was appointed director-general of UJA-Federation of New York's Israel. In that capacity, he serves as the organization's senior representative in Israel.


Social activism

Shmuli supports a range of social causes, representing groups and causes including
foreign workers Foreign workers or guest workers are people who work in a country other than one of which they are a citizen. Some foreign workers use a guest worker program in a country with more preferred job prospects than in their home country. Guest worke ...
and their children, military veterans, contract workers and employee rights,
LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...
equality, student rights and quality of education.


Awards and recognition

In 2016 Shmuli was awarded "Itur ha’Or" award for work on behalf of Holocaust Survivors and the Ometz Medal for outstanding social achievements. in 2018 he was awarded "The Outstanding Parliamentarian Award" from the
Israel Democracy Institute The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI; ), established in 1991, is an independent research center that defines itself as being dedicated to strengthening the foundations of Israeli democracy. It is based in Jerusalem. History The Israel Democracy ...
.


Personal life

Shmuli lives in Moshav Ksalon in the Judean Mountains. In 2019, Shmuli and his partner Eran Levy welcomed their first son, and in 2021 welcomed their second son; both born via surrogacy in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.Gil Hoffman
Labor winner Itzik Shmuli to celebrate with labor of son in the US, The Jerusalem Post, 3 January 2019
/ref>


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shmuli, Itzik 1980 births Living people Israeli Labor Party politicians Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Gay Jews Israeli gay politicians LGBTQ members of the Knesset 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) Politicians from Tel Aviv Zionist Union politicians