Tova Ilan (; 2 June 1929 – 18 March 2019) was an Israeli educator and politician. She briefly served 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

Meimad Meimad (, an acronym for ''Medina Yehudit, Medina Demokratit'' (), lit., ''Jewish State, Democratic State'') is a moderate to left-wing religious Zionist political party in Israel. Founded in 1999, it is based on the ideology of the Meimad movem ...

between January and April 2006.

Biography

Born in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, Ilan emigrated to Israel and was involved in the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

. She joined kibbutz

Ein Tzurim Ein Tzurim (, ''lit.'' Rock Spring) is a religious kibbutz in southern Israel. Located south of Kiryat Malakhi, it falls under the jurisdiction of Shafir Regional Council and is a member of the Religious Kibbutz Movement. In it had a populati ...

in 1951, and from 1951 until 1960, she worked with

Youth Aliyah Youth Aliyah (Hebrew: עלית הנוער, ''Aliyat Hano'ar'', German: Jugend-Alijah, Youth Immigration) is a Jewish organization that rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Nazis during the Third Reich. Youth Aliyah arranged for their r ...

. From 1961 until 1972, she was the headmistress of Shafir Regional high school. In 1987, she established the Yaakov Herzog Centre for Jewish Studies in Ein Tzurim, and was its director until 2001, and is now its president. For the 2003 elections, she was placed 27th on the joined Labor Party-Meimad list (the second placed Meimad candidate after party leader

Michael Melchior Michael Melchior (; born January 31, 1954) is a Jewish leader, Orthodox rabbi, thinker, and activist. He is a former Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs, a former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and a former member of Knesset for Meimad ...

), but missed out on a seat when the alliance won only 19 seats. However, she entered the Knesset on 21 January 2006 as a replacement for Efi Oshaya (who had entered the Knesset three days previously as a replacement for

Haim Ramon Haim Ramon (; born 10 April 1950) is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1983 and 2009, and as both Vice Prime Minister and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office with responsibility for state policy. Biography ...

, who had left the party to join

Kadima Kadima () was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan in August 2005, and was soon ...

). Because the Knesset was already in recess prior to the next elections, she chose not to take her salary, and donated it to young

olim ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally described ...

. She was not included on the party's list for the March 2006 elections,Meimad Council Chooses its Candidates for the 17th Knesset
Meimad and subsequently lost her seat.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilan, Tova 1929 births Austrian Jews Austrian emigrants to Israel 20th-century Austrian educators Austrian women educators Israeli educators Israeli women educators Haganah members Women members of the Knesset Meimad politicians One Israel politicians Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) 21st-century Israeli women politicians 2019 deaths