Karine Elharrar-Hartstein (; born 9 October 1977) is an Israeli lawyer and politician who currently serves 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
Yesh Atid. She was
Minister of National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Resources from 2021 to 2022.
Biography
Elharrar was born in
Holon in 1977 to Moti and Colette Elharrar, who were
Moroccan Jewish 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 at
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
. Between 2008 and 2013 she headed the legal clinic 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 ...
, and specialised in the rights of Holocaust survivors, people with disabilities, and pensioners.
Elharrar lives in
Rishon LeZion
Rishon LeZion ( , "First to Zion") is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area.
Founded in 1882 by Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire who were ...
, and is married with two children. She has
muscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affe ...
and uses a wheelchair.
Political career
She joined the new
Yesh Atid 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
Africa
* 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015
* 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015
* 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015
* 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015
* 2015-16 Central African gene ...
, and was re-elected as the party won 11 seats. She was re-elected in elections in
April 2019,
September 2019 and
2020
The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
, 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 conference in
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, after she was forced to return to her hotel in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
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 and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
, with the disability charity
Scope calling the incident "inexcusable"; however, Elharrar said it was "a good experience to make sure the next UN conference will be accessible."
See also
*
Women of Israel
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 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 Holon
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
Israeli politicians with disabilities
Israeli wheelchair users
Lawyers with disabilities