34 Facts About Ayelet Shaked

Ayelet Shaked is an Israeli former politician, activist, and software engineer.

Ayelet Shaked served as Minister of Interior from 2021 to 2022 and as Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2019.

When Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government in the run-up to the September 2019 legislative election, Ayelet Shaked ended up succeeding Bennett as leader of the New Right.

Ayelet Shaked was considered to be one of the country's most active and influential legislators.

Ayelet Shaked has initiated and drafted various laws, including the 2016 NGO law, the comprehensive national anti-terrorism law, a version of the proposal for Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, and a law limiting the powers of the Israeli Supreme Court.

Ayelet Shaked was born in Tel Aviv to a well-educated, upper-middle-class family of Israeli Jews.

Ayelet Shaked's father was an accountant by profession and hailed from a right-wing background, having voted Likud, while her mother was a Bible teacher and hailed from a centre-left background.

Ayelet Shaked has described herself as "half-Iraqi and proud of it" with regard to her heritage.

Ayelet Shaked identified her political awakening and right-wing orientation to when she was eight years old, after watching a television debate between Yitzhak Shamir and Shimon Peres, wherein she supported the conservative views of Shamir.

Ayelet Shaked served in the Israel Defense Forces as an infantry instructor with the Golani Brigade; she was enlisted in the 12th Barak Battalion as well as in Sayaret Golani.

Ayelet Shaked later enrolled in Tel Aviv University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in the disciplines of electrical engineering and computer science, and subsequently began her career in the Israeli high-tech industry; Shaked was employed at Texas Instruments as a software engineer and later became manager of the company's marketing department.

From 2006 to 2008, Ayelet Shaked was office director for the office of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Ayelet Shaked campaigned against Galei Tzahal saying it had a "left-leaning agenda".

In January 2012, Ayelet Shaked was elected to serve as a member of the Likud's Central Committee; however, in June 2012 she resigned and joined the Jewish Home.

Ayelet Shaked subsequently joined the Economic Affairs Committee, the House Committee, and the Committee on Foreign Workers, and served as an alternate member on the Finance Committee.

Ayelet Shaked chaired the Knesset Committee for the Enforcement of the Security Service Law and the National-Civilian Service Law and the Special Committee for the Equal Sharing of the Burden Bill.

In June 2014, Ayelet Shaked posted an article by the late Israeli writer Uri Elitzur on Facebook.

In 2015, Ayelet Shaked won the primary election for the Jewish Home Party, which was considered an achievement as a secular female politician within a religious party.

In December 2018 Ayelet Shaked was amongst the Jewish Home MKs to leave the party and form the breakaway New Right party.

Ayelet Shaked was placed third on the Jewish Home list for the 2015 elections, and was re-elected to the Knesset.

Ayelet Shaked took office as Justice Minister on 14 May 2015.

In July 2015, Ayelet Shaked announced that she was forming a committee to create a stable legal structure for the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

In January 2016, Ayelet Shaked sponsored a bill in the Knesset that would require non-governmental organizations that receive a majority of their funding from "foreign government entities" to be so labeled.

Ayelet Shaked retired from political life after Yamina failed to win Knesset seats in the 2022 Israeli legislative election, and took a position heading Kardan Real Estate Group.

Ayelet Shaked argues that the key of concepts of property rights, the rejection of the divine right of kings, the importance of the separation of powers, and civil liberty are a byproduct of the Jewish philosophical tradition.

In 2022, Ayelet Shaked suggested renewing citizenship legislation that had expired in July 2021 after the Knesset failed to renew it.

Ayelet Shaked sponsored a bill proposing to prevent Palestinian family unification.

Ayelet Shaked cited security concerns and "demographic reasons", and added that it was meant to stop the "creeping right of return".

Ayelet Shaked seeks to limit the power of the Israeli judiciary.

Ayelet Shaked has repeatedly stressed her support for an independent Kurdistan.

Ayelet Shaked has additionally cited the high number of women serving in Kurdish armed forces.

In 2017, as Minister of Justice, Ayelet Shaked submitted legislation to decriminalize the recreational use of cannabis.

Ayelet Shaked is married to Ofir Ayelet Shaked, a former fighter pilot in the Israeli Air Force.

Ayelet Shaked was influenced by Ayn Rand, in particular The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.