“120” Program Cohort III: 2016/17

39 years old, Ahiya Kamara lives in Jerusalem and recently finished his term as the Head Commissioner for Equal Rights of People with Disabilities at the Israeli Ministry of Justice, leading the process for Israeli government ratification of the United Nations convention of the rights of disabled people. Prior to his time at the commission, he was the founder and first CEO of Bekol, the organization of hard of hearing people in Israel, and the chairman of Bizchut, the Israel Human rights Center for People with Disabilities, leading initiatives for legislation that provides accessibility for people with disabilities. Ahiya holds a BA in Psychology from the Hebrew University and an MA in Special Education from Tel Aviv University.

31 years old, Alex Rif was born in Ukraine and immigrated to Israel at the age of five. She is among the founders of the “Cultural Brigade” project of the Generation 1.5 initiative of young Russian-speaking Israelis who work to integrate the story and culture of immigrants from the Former Soviet Union into Israeli culture. She helps organize a variety of campaigns including Israeli Novy God (the traditional Russian New Year’s Eve celebration) and Project Veteran (fostering awareness of Soviet World War II veterans). She holds an MA in public policy from the Hebrew University and is a graduate of the scriptwriting program at the Sam Spiegel Film School and the Halcyon poetry course at the School for the Creative Literary Arts.

33 years old, Avi Yalou is from Kiryat Eqron. He is a social activist and the director of the non-profit Hila – for Education in Peripheral Neighborhoods and Cities. Avi is involved in a number of initiatives and social movements that work to fight racism and discrimination and promote sustainable change, including “The Forum for Collaborative Thinking on the Fight Against Racism” and “The Situation Room – Social Justice” (the organizing committee behind the 2011 Social Justice protests). He holds a BA in Business Administration.

29 years old, Avigayil Karlinsky from Jerusalem is married to Yehuda and is the mother of two. After working in hi-tech for six years, Avigayil founded the organization Lo Tishtok (Thou shall not be silent), which aides Haredi sexual assault survivors and promotes awareness of the issue in the Haredi community. She is active in several initiatives in the “New Haredim” community of Haredim who preserve their traditions while being engaged in wider Israeli society. Avigayil studies Sociology and Anthropology at the Hebrew University.

40 years old, Esti Biton Shushan is a Haredi resident of Petah Tikvah, the mother of four, and a graduate of the Beit Yaakov school system. She owns an advertising, branding, and digital arts studio, and is a designer, writer, and filmmaker. She is an activist for Haredi women’s rights and equality, and founded Lo Nivkharot Lo Bokhrot (No Representation, No Vote), in which Haredi women abstained for voting for Haredi parties, which do not have women candidates. Today she is the director of Nivkharot (Represented), a movement of Haredi women for representation and equality. She is the creator of a short film called Akera (Barren Woman).

45 years old, Hatam Waked is a resident of the city of Arabe’ in the lower Galilee. A social worker, she has been the chair of the Central Galilee Region for the Na’amat women’s movement for the last four years. She is a social and communal activist and is active in the Arabe’ branch of the Hadash party. Together with the chair of Na’amat from the neighboring Jewish city of Afula, she opened an intercultural dialog forum for Arab and Jewish women in the region which has been running for the last four years. Additionally, she is the graduate of women’s empowerment and leadership and gender equality courses.

43 years old, Iman Chativ Yasin is from the town of Yefia in the Galilee. She is the manager of the municipal community center in Zemer, located in the Triangle Region. She holds an MA with honors in Gender and Women’s Studies from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Social Work from the University of Haifa. A social activist, she is involved in promoting the status of Arab women in the public sphere and in local and national politics.

35 years old, Kfir Cohen is a resident of Jerusalem, married to Raheli and the father of Maya. He manages the the Gush Etzion Regional Council’s Department of Sports. A graduate of the Upper Afula children’s village, Kfir established and managed its alumni program. He is a graduate of the Council of Community Centers’ rising leaders program and of the executive sports training program at the Wingate Institute in Netanya and holds a BA in Education from Beit Berl College. He established the “Young Rehavia” community in Jerusalem, which works to improve the quality of life for young families.

33 years old, Michal Froman lives in Tekoa and is the mother of five. She is an architecture student and yoga teacher and has been active for the last five years in the group Shorashim/Judur (Roots), which brings together settlers and Palestinians, and in various other initiatives bringing together Arabs and Jewish Israelis. She is interested in cross-cultural connections between different groups such as secular and religious people and Jews and Arabs, and hopes to encourage changes to the traditional approach to relationships and marriages. 31 years old, Naama Lazimi grew up in Migdal Ha’Emek and currently lives in Haifa. She currently serves as a Parliamentary Aide for Knesset Member Shelly Yachimovich of the Labor Party. Beyond her professional activities, Naama is the chair of the financial committee of the trade union Koach La Ovdim (Power to the Workers), is active in the Labor Party, and is a member of the steering committee of the YESOD forum for Israeli social democracy. In addition, she is active in several other organizations and initiatives that focus on workers’ rights, gender equality, and the promotion of the Mizrahi community.

40 years old, Nechumi Yaffe is a Hasidic Jerusalemite and the mother of three. She is a history teacher and the author of the new history curriculum for Haredi schools. She is a doctoral candidate at the Swiss Center for Conflict Resolution at Hebrew University, where she researches poverty in the Haredi society. Her works to promote dialog and reconciliation between different communities in Israel and to encourage the integration and preservation of Haredi society.

27 years old, Nerya Rafael Knafo grew up in Ashdod and lives today in the village of Merkaz Shapira. His family were leaders of the Jewish community in Morocco. He is one of the founders of the youth branch of the Jewish Home party and led efforts to register new party members and promote the expansion of the party’s primary system. He is a social and political activist and involved in media and education. He works for peace, solidarity, democracy, and the promotion of the Sephardic Jewish tradition.

30 years old, Noam Shuster-Eliassi grew up in the Palestinian- and Jewish-Israeli community of Neve Shalom – Wahat al-Salaam. She studied in a bilingual, binational school and speaks fluent Arabic. Noam joined the staff of Interpeace in 2012 and serves as their Israel project coordinator, involving strategic communities in Israel in the peace conversation. Naom holds a BA from Brandeis and received the Davis Peace Prize for her efforts to open a peace- building program for Tutsi and Hutu women and youth with AIDS in Rwanda.

36 years old, Ophir Sheck is married to Rinat, the father of four, and a proud resident of the Galilee. He is the founder of the Tavor Mechina in Nazareth Ilit and is the chairman of Shibolet, which seeks to establish a village that integrates people with special needs. Ophir is the the leader of the Lev HaGalil (Heart of the Galilee) initiative, which promotes entrepreneurship in the Galilee and lobbies the government to develop the region. He is a reserve major in the IDF and holds an MA in public policy from Bar Ilan University.

36 years old, Rafael Balalu is a scriptwriter and director. He was born in Afula to a family from Morocco. He graduated from the Sam Spiegel Film School and teaches film in Tel Aviv. His award-winning films focus especially on the cultural and political situation of Mizrahi Jews in Israel. Rafael is now working on an animated film about the Israeli Black Panthers and a documentary about Jacqueline Kahanoff, an Egyptian-Jewish novelist, essayist, and journalist.

41 years old, Ranit Budaie Hyman is a resident of Modi’in. She is the Director of Meitarim, a network of pluralistic schools in which both secular and religious Jewish children learn. She is active in the Meimad party and the religious peace organization Netivot Shalom and is a doctoral candidate at Bar Ilan University. She is married and the mother of four.

40 years old, Reut Guy lives in south Tel Aviv, and is a lawyer and a certified mediator. She holds an LLB and is currently completing an MA in Gender Studies. She works for ELEM, coordinating the organization’s efforts to engage with girls and young women. She worked on issues of children’s rights at the Welfare Ministry’s Judicial Advisory Office, and regularly appears at the Knesset’s on issues relating to human trafficking, children’s rights, homelessness, and prostitution. in 2015, she represented Israel at the UN Committee for Children’s Rights. She is active in LGBT organizations including IGY and Beit Dror (a shelter for homeless LGBT youth).

46 years old, Ronit Kfir lives in Karmei Yosef. She is an interior designer, design blogger, writer and editor, and runs empowerment workshops for women looking to open their own businesses. She previously worked for Army Radio and as a television presenter. She is on the board of the non- profit “Women in the Picture,” which organizes the Rehovot Women’s Film Festival and works to integrate women into the television and film industries. She holds a BA in English, is married and the mother of two.

38 years old, Shiran Ben David Ozeri lives in Be’er Yaakov and an advisor to the Director of the Jerusalem Municipality on issues of municipal tax collection. As the Chair of the Movement for the Rights of Adoptees, she led a successful campaign against a law which prevented adoptees from speaking about their identities as adoptees in public and the fight to change the Adoption Law to allow for adoptees to access genetic and medical information and to identify their birth parents.

32 years old, Shmuel Drilman is a Haredi Jerusalemite, the graduate of the Or Alhanan and Ateret Shleima Yeshivas, married, and the father of four. He is the Director of WeBetter, a digital company which integrates Yeshiva students into the workforce. He is completing a BA in Education, is the graduate of “Haredim in the State,” and is active in several other projects promoting dialog between different sectors of Israeli society including Dosim and “Haredim for Peace.”

38 years old, Yoav Lalum is a lawyer and lecturer at the Sha’arei Mishpat College and a resident of Jerusalem. In 2002, he founded the NGO Noar Kahalcha, which provides services to Haredi children, particularly drop-outs. He coordinated the fight against ethnic discrimination in the Haredi school system. After finishing his rabbinical studies, Yoav served as the bureau chief for the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron. Yoav holds an LLB from Kiryat Ono College and an LLM from the Hebrew University and is a reserve officer in the IDF and a graduate of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership.

41 years old, Zehorit Sorek grew up in Ofakim and Jerusalem; today she lives in Tel Aviv with her partner and two children. She works as a consultant and educator trainer. She is the chair of Yesh Atid’s LGBT forum and was a candidate for the party in the 2015 elections. She is active in numerous initiatives in the religious LGBT community, including Shoval and Bat Kol, and founded the Pride Minyan in Tel Aviv; she also previously served on the boards of Hoshen and IGY. She holds a BA in Land of Israel Studies from Bar-Ilan University.

51 years old, Zvika Goldberg is from the community of Srigim. He is the director of Be’atzmi (on my own) – a non-profit which integrates and advances disadvantaged populations towards stable and fair employment. He is the co-chair of the Prime Minister’s cross-sectoral roundtable for government, business, and civil society relations. Zvika previously worked as the head of the new desk at Galatz Radio and Ha’aretz, is a lecturer in the communications department of Sapir College, and holds an LLB and an MA in History of the Talmud. He is married to Hagit and the father of two.

PROGRAM STAFF

Dr. Gali Sembira, Program Head Gali Sembira is currently the director of Shaharit’s “120” program. She was previously Shaharit’s director, served as a professional director at Sheatufim—the umbrella organization of Israeli civil society organizations and deputy director of the Oran Foundation, among other positions. She holds an MA in organizational psychology and a PhD in gender studies from Bar-Ilan University and has a wealth of experience in designing educational programs, leadership and social management development, work with children and teenagers at risk, and establishing and running social and community organizations. She is also a volunteer consultant to people seeking to establish social-change organizations.

Yael Gidanyan, Program Director A life-long Jerusalemite, Yael is a graduate of the Pelech School in Jerusalem and earned a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies and a master’s degree in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University. As a teenager, Yael chaired the Student and Youth Council in Jerusalem and, as a student, represented the Faculty of Humanities on the Board of Directors of the Hebrew University Student Council. She has also produced and hosted a radio program on Israel’s national radio. She served as chair of the board of the Interfaith Encounter Association for four years and runs workshops on intercultural work around the world.

Moshe Shriki, Group Facilitator A lifelong resident of Jerusalem, Moshe is an educator and activist. Today, he serves as the Programs Manager of the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Activism Department and as a Lecturer in multicultural education at the Kiryat Ono Academic College. He previously served as the director of Memizrach Shemesh - Beit Midrash for Social Leadership, a project of Kol Yisrael Haverim (Alliance Israelite Universelle) which seeks to promote a tolerant Judaism and promote social responsibility in the spirit of the Sephardic Jews. Moshe began his journey as an educator and activist as a staff member of Kedma High School, the first in a network of academic schools established in Israel's disadvantaged and peripheral communities, where he worked as a history teacher and the school principal. He holds a B.A. in Islam and Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University and an M.A. in Democracy and Education from the Open University.