Katrin "Keti" Shitrit-Peretz (; born 22 January 1960) is an Israeli politician currently serving 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

Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

. She previously held the role from 2019 to 2022.

Biography

Katrin Peretz was born in

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, to a

Moroccan Jewish Moroccan Jews (; ; ) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews began immigrating to the region as early as 70 CE. They were much later met by a second wave of migrants fro ...

family. Her family

immigrated 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 residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

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 ...

in 1962 when she was an eighteen month old baby, initially living in a

ma'abara Ma'abarot (, singular: Ma'abara ) were immigrant and refugee absorption camps established in Israel in the 1950s, constituting one of the largest public projects planned by the state to implement its sociospatial and housing policies. The ma' ...

Lod Lod (, ), also known as Lydda () and Lidd (, or ), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephelah on the east and the coastal plain on the west. The ci ...

. She was a participant in the

Betar The Betar Movement (), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionism, Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. It was one of several right-wing youth movements tha ...

youth movement and received a BA in political science and an MA in public administration 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 ...

, also gaining a teacher training certificate at Beit Berl Academic College. She worked in schools in

Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh () is a city council (Israel), city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District. A center of Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodoxy, Beit Shemesh has a population of 170,683 as of 2024. The city is named afte ...

and

Dimona Dimona (, ) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arabah, Arava valley in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel. In , its population was . The Shimon Pere ...

and established a school for modern dance in

Kfar Saba Kfar Saba ( ), officially Kfar Sava , is a List of Israeli cities, city in the Sharon plain, Sharon region, of the Central District (Israel), Central District of State of Israel, Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 110,456, making it the 16th-l ...

. She also headed the office of Beit Shemesh mayor Daniel Vaknin between 1993 and 2008, before serving as the city's Financial Director from 2008 until 2010, during which time she also lectured at

and the

College of Management Academic Studies The College of Management Academic Studies , a college located in the city of Rishon LeZion, Israel, is the largest college in Israel. The college has an additional campus in the city of Bnei Brak. Founded in 1978, COLMAN is the first non-subsid ...

.Kathrin Shitrit: Public Activities
Knesset A long-time Likud activist, Shitrit headed the offices of Likud MKs

Gideon Sa'ar Gideon Moshe Sa'ar (; born 9 December 1966) is an Israeli politician currently serving as Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), Foreign Minister and member of the Knesset for the party New Hope (Israel), New Hope. Sa'ar was first electe ...

and Yisrael Katz, before becoming a strategist for Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat. She was placed thirty-first on the Likud list for the 2009 Knesset elections, but failed to win a seat as Likud won 27 seats. She was thirty-eighth on the joint Likud

Yisrael Beiteinu Yisrael Beiteinu (, ) is a conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may ...

list for the 2013 elections, but the alliance won only 31 seats. The following year she was forced to give up her place on the list (which would have allowed her to enter the Knesset as a replacement for a resigning MK) as she was working for Katz in the Ministry of Transportation. Between 2016 and 2019 she worked as an advisor to Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat. Prior to the April 2019 elections she was given the thirtieth place on the Likud list, and was elected to the Knesset as the party won 35 seats. She was subsequently re-elected in the early elections in September the same year, and again in

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 ...

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. However, she lost her seat in the 2022 elections after being placed thirty-ninth on the Likud list. She returned to the Knesset on 15 February 2023 as a replacement for

Miri Regev Miriam "Miri" Regev (; born 26 May 1965) is an Israeli politician who currently serves as Minister of Transport, National Infrastructure and Road Safety. Previously she was Minister of Culture and Sport and Acting Prime Minister of Israel. Sh ...

, who resigned under the Norwegian Law. In 2024, Shitrit told Channel 14 “If you ask me personally, not as a member of the Knesset, I’d flatten Gaza. I have no sentimental feelings about it, because there’s no separating the murderers of women and children from the citizens of Gaza.” Israeli state prosecutor Amit Aisman, in response to the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

opening an investigation against Israel, considered charging Shitrit for incitement over this comment but decided against it. She is married to Asher Shitrit. They have three children, and reside in

. Her son Moshe is deputy mayor of the city.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shitrit, Kathy 1960 births Living people Bar-Ilan University alumni Beit Berl College alumni Israeli educators Academic staff of Bar-Ilan University Likud politicians Politicians from Casablanca People from Lod 21st-century Israeli women politicians Moroccan emigrants to Israel Academic staff of the College of Management Academic Studies Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Israeli Mizrahi Jews Jewish Israeli politicians 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–)