Sharren Miriam Haskel-Harpaz (; born 4 March 1984) is an Israeli politician serving as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. She was 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 New Hope party, having previously served as a member of the

National Unity Party The National Unity Party, National United Party, Party of National Unity or National Unity Front may refer to: * National United Party of Afghanistan (founded 2003) * National Unity Party (Albania) * National United Party (Armenia), defunct * Natio ...

, an earlier period on New Hope, and

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 ...

. When she was first elected, she was the youngest member of Likud and the second youngest member of the

20th Knesset The members of the 20th Knesset were elected on 17 March 2015 and sworn in on 31 March 2015. Members of the Knesset Replacements The twentieth Knesset had the highest number of replacements in Israeli history, with at least 27 members leavi ...

Early life

Sharren Haskel was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

to a Jewish family, the middle of three sisters. Her father, Amir, was born in Israel, and is from a family of

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

veterans from

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

Tzofit. Her mother, Fabienne, was born in

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 ...

. Amir and Fabienne met in

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 ...

and moved to Toronto after Fabienne received a job offer as an English teacher. Her family moved to Israel a year after her birth. She was raised 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 ...

and studied theatre at Katznelson High School, where she was a Scouts leader, and later transferred to Ankori High School, where she studied cinema. At the age of 18, Haskel enlisted in the

Israel Border Police The Israel Border Police () is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav (), meaning border guard; its members are colloquially known as ''magavnikim ...

. According to Haskel, the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its Israeli-occupied territories, occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and October 2000 prot ...

, during which she served in the Border Police operating checkpoints and attending home demolitions and demonstrations, narrowly escaped two suicide bombings on Israeli buses, and lost two friends to terrorist attacks, helped shape her ideology. Sharren Haskel in IDF

After being discharged from the Border Police, Haskel studied for a year 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 ...

, and then lived in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

for six years. She graduated from AVT Australia's program for veterinary nursing. Haskel completed her bachelor's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

at the

Open University of Israel The Open University of Israel (, ''Ha-Universita ha-Ptuha'') is a distance education, distance-education university in Israel. It is one of ten public universities in Israel recognized by the Council of Higher Education (CHE). Open University ...

, where she was on the debate team. In 2014, Haskel won the Israeli National Champion Debate for Juniors. She is also an alumnus of the Jewish Statesmanship Center in Public Policy.

Social activism

Haskel lived in Australia for six years where she worked as a veterinary nurse in Bondi Vet Animal Hospital, and volunteered most of her time to WIRES, an organization that rescue wild animals, treats them, and release them back into the wild. She is active on

environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

and

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

issues, with a particular focus on water pollution coming out of areas under the control of the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

. Haskel supports de-criminalization of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

, and is an advocate for

medical cannabis Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to cannabis products and cannabinoid molecules that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has a long history, but has not ...

usage.

Political career

In 2013, Haskel attempted to win a council seat in

's local election. Although she lost, she continued to volunteer her time as an activist in the environmental committee at Kfar Saba city hall. Prior to the 2015 Knesset elections she was placed 31st on the Likud list. Although she failed to enter the Knesset when Likud won 30 seats, she became an MK in 2015 as a replacement for Danny Danon following his appointment as Israel's envoy to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

on 14 August 2015. Haskel heads the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

Knesset caucus, yet in 2016 she voted against the bills purporting to advance gay rights, proposed by

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 ...

and

Yesh Atid Yesh Atid (, ) is a centrist political party in Israel. It was founded in 2012 by former TV journalist Yair Lapid, the son of the former Shinui party politician and Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid. In 2013 the first election it conte ...

: recognition of a bereaved widower in same sex couples, a bill banning conversion therapy attempting to convert gays to heterosexuals, a bill to recognize a

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

contract and a bill to train health professionals to deal with gender and sexual inclination issues. On 15 December 2019, Haskel endorsed

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 ...

in the

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

for

party leadership. On 23 December 2020 she announced that she would join Sa'ar's new party, New Hope. She was placed fifth on the New Hope list for the March 2021 elections and was again elected to the Knesset as New Hope won six seats. In the elections to the twenty-fifth Knesset, she was placed 11th in the National Unity list. The list received 12 mandates and Haskel was thus sworn into the Knesset for the fifth time. In 2024, Haskel was sworn in as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for the State of Israel. A

classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, eco ...

, Haskel is a spirited supporter of free markets and civil liberties. She was the legislature's primary proponent of cannabis legalization.

Personal life

She speaks English,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

, and French. Haskel is married with three children, born in 2020 and 2022. On July 3, 2024 Haskel shared that her 88-year-old grandmother was violently attacked in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in an antisemitic incident. The attackers, who noticed her

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

necklace, struck her in the face and shouted antisemitic slurs. Haskel criticized the rise of antisemitism in France and urged the Israeli government to act, calling on Jews worldwide to return to Israel.

Awards and recognition

Sharren Haskel received high scores in 2016 and 2017 from the annual "Liberty Index", rating Members of Knesset based on how their legislative activity promotes or suppresses personal freedom and free markets, which is compiled by the New Liberal Movement (described by one of its founders as "much like the better goals of the Tea Party in the United States.") In May 2016 Haskel was recognized by the ''

Jewish Journal ''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', known simply as the ''Jewish Journal'', is an independent, nonprofit community weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of greater Los Angeles, published by the nonprofit TRIBE Media Corp. It ...

'' in the United States as a leader of new generation of women in politics, mainly for her extensive work around the world to defend Israel’s policy and government.

Committee assignments

Haskel served on these committees for the 20th Knesset: *Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee *Special committee for internal and environmental affairs *Special Committee on Drugs and Alcohol Abuse *Science and Technology Committee

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haskel, Sharren 1984 births Living people 21st-century Israeli women politicians Canadian emigrants to Israel 21st-century Canadian Jews Canadian people of Israeli descent Canadian people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Israeli people of Canadian-Jewish descent Israeli people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Likud politicians 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–) New Hope (Israel) politicians Open University of Israel alumni People from Kfar Saba Politicians from Toronto Women members of the Knesset Women veterinarians Jewish women politicians Israeli LGBTQ rights activists