May Golan ( he, מַאי גּוֹלָן, born 3 May 1986) is an Israeli politician and political activist. She was elected to 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

Likud Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Shar ...

in the 2022 elections. She was formerly the CEO of the NGO Hebrew City, and also worked as a campaigner against

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

.Israeli Trump Supporter: 'People Have the Right to Protect Homes, Borders'
21 Jun, Fox News Insider"I stepped over child drug addicts and prostitutes stacked in the stairwell, but no such fear in south Tel Aviv. We were conquered. Eritreans are permitted to rape, that is their culture"
Dror Feuer, 18 January 2014, 12:28,

Globes A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe o ...

Biography

May Flora Golan Badra was born in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

to a

Mizrahi Jewish Mizrahi Jews ( he, יהודי המִזְרָח), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () or ''Mizrachi'' () and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained i ...

family. She is the child of a single

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses ...

mother who made

Aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally descri ...

from

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

as a 3-year-old girl as part of

Operation Ezra and Nehemiah From 1951 to 1952, Operation Ezra and Nehemiah airlifted between 120,000 and 130,000 Iraqi Jews to Israel via Iran and Cyprus. The massive emigration of Iraqi Jews was among the most climactic events of the Jewish exodus from the Muslim World. T ...

. She grew up near the old central bus station in South Tel Aviv. She still lives today in South Tel Aviv, with her mother, previously on Mount Zion Street and today in

Kfar Shalem Kfar Shalem ( he, כפר שלם, lit: Shalem Village) is a neighbourhood in southeastern Tel Aviv, Israel. Salameh Street / Shalma Street in Tel Aviv is named after the Arab village of Salamah located on the site prior to 1948. History Until 19 ...

. At the age of 9, Golan was interviewed with her mother as part of a Channel One report on poverty in Israel. They were living on social security in a low-class neighborhood in South Tel Aviv.May Golan is not willing to let leftists decide who is entitled to human rights
Haaretz, 17 January 2014, Hilo Glazer Following the broadcast, May was contacted by

Gila Almagor Gila Almagor Agmon ( he, גילה אלמגור אגמון; born Gila Alexandrowitz; July 22, 1939) is an Israeli actress, film star, and author. In Israel, she is known as "queen of the Israeli cinema and theatre". Biography Gila Alexandrowitz ( ...

and her Wish Foundation charity. Identified as a child with potential, she was invited to attend Ironi Dalet High School, located in North Tel Aviv, a higher socioeconomic neighborhood. There she was bullied for her background.

Political career

Golan became politically active in 2011, campaigning to raise awareness about the impact of undocumented immigrants from Africa on south Tel Aviv. She became a highly recognisable face in the campaign against the presence of undocumented immigrants in Tel Aviv. In 2013, she established the organization "Hebrew city", which stood for election to the Tel Aviv city council, but was disqualified for technical reasons. In the

2013 Israeli legislative election Early elections for the nineteenth Knesset were held in Israel on 22 January 2013. Public debate over the Tal Law had nearly led to early elections in 2012, but they were aborted at the last moment after Kadima briefly joined the government. T ...

, she was placed at the 10th place candidate for the Otzma Leyisrael party, however the party won no seats. In the 2015 elections for the 20th Knesset, she was placed 32nd as a candidate for the Likud party, which ultimately went on to receive the highest number of votes. In April 2023, prime minister of Israel

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

nominated May Golan as a consul general to New York. Her nomination was criticized by Israelis and Americans, due to her self-identification as a "proud racist" and her comments about

African refugees in Israel African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...

, including calls to expel them.

Media career

May Golan has been a frequent guest on political panels on television channels in Israel. She has also been interviewed by international media organizations, such as the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

, Reuters, Fox News, I24News and RTVI. In 2014, she was chosen as one of the 66 women to be aware of, by the newspaper Haaretz. In 2015, she was selected as 'Woman of the Year' in the social field by Israel's Channel 7. In July 2022

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

banned her post on violence in South Tel Aviv for incitement to racism.

Controversy

Golan has attracted international attention for her vocal support of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of ...

, and incendiary remarks about African immigration to Israel. When she was accused of racism at protest rallies in her early days as an activist, she was quoted as saying: “I’m proud to be racist.”Netanyahu Offers Post of Israel’s Consul General in New York to ‘Proud Racist’ May Golan

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

References

External links

*
May Golan's Column for Maariv
(Hebrew)

(Hebrew) {{DEFAULTSORT:Golan, May 1986 births Living people 21st-century Mizrahi Jews Israeli Jews Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Likud politicians Members of the 21st Knesset (2019) Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021) Members of the 24th Knesset (2021–2022) Members of the 25th Knesset (2022–) Politicians from Tel Aviv Women members of the Knesset Far-right politicians in Israel Racism in Israel