Former prime minister Naftali Bennett announced on Tuesday the addition of four women to the B’Yachad Party’s Knesset slate, bringing the total number of female candidates on the list to 17 ahead of elections.
B’Yachad is led by Bennett and is a core party in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming elections, set for October 27.
Those added to the list included Esti Ayalon Kubo, the former head of Israel’s economic delegation to China.
The party stated that Kubo has extensive experience in economic diplomacy and represented Israel at numerous international economic forums. She was born in Ethiopia and made aliyah to Israel alongside her family.
In 2024, Kubo was named among The Jerusalem Post’s 50 Most Influential Jews.
New additions to the B'Yachad slate
Another addition was social entrepreneur Olessia Kantor, who founded the Lev Esh initiative after the October 7 massacre, working to provide therapy to survivors coping with PTSD and anxiety. She also established a philanthropic foundation that assists women and children impacted by domestic violence.
Another addition was Bruria Naim Erman, who serves as director-general of the B’Yachad Party and held a high-ranking position in the Transportation Ministry. The party stated that Erman had served as the director of the B’Yachad Party since its founding and is an entrepreneur specializing in community relations.
Orly Harel, the leader of B’Yachad’s Women’s Branch, also made the list. The party stated that Harel has worked as an entrepreneur in the fields of generative AI and medicine, and is also a prominent social activist.
She was previously active in the Likud Party and founded the Likud Women of Jerusalem Forum.
After announcing the additions, Bennett said that his repairing Israel team had received significant reinforcement. He stated that each candidate reflected a “true Israeli mosaic of top-notch women of action, each in her own field.”
Women make up a majority of candidates; inclusion not based on gender
Bennett also noted that, while women make up a majority of B’Yachad’s candidates, their inclusion was not based on gender considerations. Rather, he said, it was based on “a simple decision we made when we set out: to include the very best people.”
“Together, we will fix what’s broken,” he added.
Other female candidates on his list include former government director-generals Keren Terner and Liran Avisar Ben Horin. Terner had served as director-general of the Communications Ministry, and Ben Horin served as director-general of both the Finance and Transportation Ministries.
B’Yachad merged with Yesh Atid in April, and is expected to include lawmakers from the party on its list as well. Yesh Atid MK Meirav Cohen is the chairwoman of the Knesset’s Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality.
Bennett became prime minister in 2021 in a rotation government with opposition leader Yair Lapid, who is also the chairman of Yesh Atid.
Bennett has contrasted the current government’s record with that of his own, noting that his administration included more female ministers and directors-general than any previous government in Israel’s history.
He also pledged last month that, if elected, his next government would use all available state tools to combat violence against women.