“120” Program Cohort II: 2015/16

Avigdor Rabinowitz Age 24, born in Ofakim but lives in Jerusalem. He studied at Or Elhanan yeshiva and founded the “Rec Room on the Roof”—a place for disenchanted Haredi teens to hang out. He runs the Jobs for Haredim program which brings the job market to the Haredi sector through social networks. Avigdor completed a course for social entrepreneurs run by the 8200 Society and he is a member of the administration of Aguda Ahat—which promotes social responsibility among Haredim. He is currently studying political science at the Open University.

Ahmad Muhana Age 27 and a lawyer from Umm al-Fahm. He has been MK Ahmed Tibi’s parliamentary aide for the past five years. Ahmed was elected a member of the Ta’al Party’s central committee and serves as a member of its secretariat; he also founded the party’s youth council. He espouses and works for full national and civic equality for Palestinian Israelis and for the democratic rights of all citizens. Ahmed is a member of the committee campaigning against discrimination on the basis of national/civil service and of the education committee on the Monitoring Committee. He is the founder and co-director of Amanina, which helps ill and needy Arabs from Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. Previously, he was an instructor and teaching assistant for education and law courses at the University of Haifa and Tel Hai College and a researcher at Dirasat—the Arab Center for Law and Policy.

Alon Mizrahi Alon is 41; he is originally from Yokneam but currently lives in the Sharon region. He publishes his columns on various platforms and works in writing copy for marketing. He boxed as a hobby and even competed several times. Alon loves the free and unmediated dialogue that social networks permit. His book A Guide to Freedom: How to Free Israeli Cultural Consciousness from the Restrictive European Exile , which talks about breaking down and rebuilding Israel’s political conventions, will be published soon thanks to help from a successful crowdfunding campaign. He is a graduate of the English Language and Literature Department at the University of Haifa.

Estee Rieder-Indursky Age 42.5 from Ramat Gan. She is the mother of Yisrael Natan who is a yeshiva student. She was a leader of the “Lo Nivharot, Lo Boharot [No Voice, No Vote]” campaign to include Haredi women on electoral slates and a Shaharit Fellow. “I am committed to breaking the silence and making the voices of Haredi women—myself included—heard. This is a unique, female, Haredi voice that must be clear, intelligible, and coherent. I believe in equality and tolerance and work to prevent injustice, expose unfair practices, and prevent silencing others. I want to effect change in the Haredi political system and include women in it, to empower Haredi women and push them towards social and political action, to see women serve in politics and various centers of power in adequate numbers, to promote conversation between diverse groups in Israeli society, to create a sustainable and thriving future, and to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Estee holds a master’s degree in government from the IDC Herzliya and is a doctoral student in the gender studies program at Tel Aviv University.

Arthur Shani Age 27, born in Tashkent and a Tel Aviv resident who made aliya in the big wave of immigrants from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s. He is a parliamentary aid and spokesperson for MK Ksenia Svetlova (Zionist Union), and has been active for many years with youth at risk and marginalized groups. He volunteers as head of the control committee for the Aguda—The Israeli National LGBT Task Force; in addition, he is a civil, real-estate, and personal-status lawyer who volunteers as the lead of the community advocacy division of Schar Mitzva (the Israel Bar Association’s pro bono program). He holds a BA in government, diplomacy, and strategy and an LL.B., both from IDC Herzliya, and is currently studying for a master’s degree in democracy and globalization studies.

Asher Fentahun Seyoum Immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia in 1984 at age 13 during Operation Moses. He ran for the 20 th Knesset on the Kulanu list. In recent years, Asher has been the Jewish Agency representative in Ethiopia (with the rank of consul). As part of his job, he was responsible for implementing the government decision to bring the children of Ethiopia’s Jews to Israel; this included preparing and sending off more than 7,000 olim . He previously served as the education director and vice principal of a boarding school at the Ben Yakir youth village, director of a center for Ethiopian olim in Safed, director of the Beit Canada absorption center in Ashdod, and director of the South and Jerusalem Districts of the Jewish Agency’s Immigration and Absorption Department. He holds a BA in education from Wingate College and a master’s in migration and social integration from the Ruppin Academic Center. Asher also completed the Jewish Agency’s cadets’ course.

Efrat Shani Shitrit Age 42 and mother of Ben. She was born and raised in Maalot-Tarshiha and now lives in Shoham. She works in a communications company as a data systems analyst and proram developer. Efrat is a member of the secretariat of Tikkun and a member of the movement’s steering committee on its direction and media activities. She is a member of the board of directors of the Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow and a member of the Shas citizens’ advisory council, which discusses Mizrahi social and status issues including the fair allocation of resources and equality of land distribution, public housing, education, culture, and public representation. She is a freelance writer for Makor Rishon and writes opinion columns on social issues for a variety of news sites including Ynet , Haaretz , Kipa , Haokets , and NRG , and she writes a regular post as part of the 929 Tanakh Together project.

Liat Malka Age 43 from Zikhron Yaakov. “I began my public-sector work in informal education as accountant and deputy director of the local community center and accountant for the Zikhron Yaakov Economic Corporation. In recent years, I was an advisor to former minister Eli Yishai on education, and I currently work in the Atid school network to develop and promote socially conscious employment initiatives in the Haredi sector.” She is a social activist (out of a belief that this is how we can make a difference), a member of the Zikron Yaakov religious council, and an active member of Noar KaHalakha (headed by Yoav Laloum) which works to end racism. She is working to develop curricula for teachers’ colleges, promote partnerships between the third sector and the Education Ministry (especially in technological education), and establish a vocational training center for Haredi teenagers and adults.

Tal Ohana Age 31 from Yeroham and the interim and deputy head of the town council. She was elected to her first term in 2010 and to her second term in 2014. Tal holds the education and strategic development portfolios; she started and ran the Alfonso Sabah movement for Zionist education and encouraging aliyah from Morocco.

Moshe Prigan Moshe is 31 and married with two children. He lives in Bnei Brak and studied at Haredi yeshivot and kollels . Alongside his Torah study, he mentored disaffected Haredi teenagers. After his yeshiva studies, he enlisted in the IDF where, among his other jobs, he worked on Jewish-Israeli awareness and education, established a track for Haredim in the Air Force (which combines technological studies and general remedial education), and then headed the unit to integrate Haredim into the Air Force. He is a social activist who promotes employment and vocational education in the Haredi community, leads encounters between various groups in Israeli society, and gives media interviews on a variety of subjects: employment, education and military enlistment for Haredim. He was recently selected as one of the 10 people most influential on the new strain of Haredim. He is currently studying social sciences and government administration at the college of administration in Petah Tikva.

Mahmood Alamoor Age 44 from Rahat; married with five children. For the past five years, he has run the Rian employment centers in the south. Previously he ran the department of informal education and the local authority to combat drug use in the Rahat municipality; he was also a high school teacher. Mahmood completed a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in public administration and policy at Ben-Gurion University.

Kobi (Yaakov) Kisos Age 34, studying for a second bachelor’s degree in law. He is an educator—a civics teacher and, until last year, also a homeroom teacher. In his free time, he is a political animal: head of the Mizrahi group in the Labor Party and a member of the Party’s secretariat and education committee, an active member of the Knesset caucus on distributive justice, and a Mizrahi activist at heart.

Neta Katz Age 29; married to Heny and father of Itzik, Dudy, and Yael. He is the director of Shahar, an organization that develops connections between Haredim and Israeli society with an emphasis on tailored forms of military service. He and his wife own a chain of children’s clothing stores for Haredim. He graduated ACC College for Advertising and previously worked as an advisor to Haredi organizations and businesses. He is a social activist and is involved in many initiatives of Haredi renewal; he is active in social integration while maintaining the unique nature of Israel’s Haredi sector.

Laura Talinovsky Laura is 31 and the mother of Elia, her one-year-old daughter. She lectures and gives workshops on social change and the Knesset. She lectures on political campaigns at Jezreel Valley Academic College. Until recently, Laura was the Executive Director of OneVoice Israel to promote the Two-State Solution. Previously, she was a parliamentary aide to MK Shelly Yachimovich who was head of the opposition. She established and headed the union of parliamentary aides and helped found Generation 1.5, Shaharit’s Russian working group. “I believe in promoting equality between genders and the groups that comprise Israeli society.” She holds a BA in sociology and political science from Hebrew University and a master’s degree in public policy; she also spent a year as a Paths to Peace fellow at NYU.

Idan P. Avidani 34 years old from Jerusalem. She is a tour guide with an emphasis on socially oriented leadership programs. She is an activist on issues such as combating racism; housing rights/public housing; the campaigns by non-contract tenants in Givat Amal, Argazim, Kfar Shalem, and Lifta; and distributive justice for lands. She coordinates Knesset policy change for the Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow.

Zvika (Biko) Arran Age 40; he lives with his wife and three sons in Eliav, a mixed religious-secular community in the northern Negev. He runs the 929-Tanakh Together initiative. Zvika is a social entrepreneur; and advisor to donors, foundations, and social-change organizations; and a lecturer. He is the founding director of Midot. He served as a fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and helped found the Nahshon mechina . Zvika served as an officer in Army Radio (Galatz) in broadcasting, training, and administration. He has a law degree and a master’s degree in public policy.

Roie Ravitzky Age 28, lives in Jerusalem and married to Elah. Roie Ravitzky is Director of the Mosaica Religious Peace Initiative, which brings together Jewish and Muslim religious leaders in an effort to find a way out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. An active member of various groups for social change and intercultural cooperation, Roie is a rabbinical student and teaches in a variety of venues.

Kasa Gueto Age 26, head of a tutoring program at Tel Aviv University. She is a social activist working to create a more nuanced and different discourse in Israeli society. She heads to Journey to Jerusalem project to remember the Ethiopians who perished on their journey to Zion. Kasa is one of the heads of the alternative student movement which grew out of the Ethiopian protests of summer 2015 and helped establish the Ethiopian group Voices from Habash at Tel Aviv University. During the protest, she was one of the spokespeople for the protest leadership and was mainly active in organizing Ethiopian students, who are the leaders of tomorrow. She is now writing down Ethiopian legends as they were told to her and is studying for a master’s degree in gender and anthropology.

Keren Uzan Age 37 and mother of Nevo (age 8). Born in Netivot and a graduate of the Eshel HaNasi boarding school. She currently lives in Omer and in Tel Aviv and holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from the Open University. She is the owners’ representative in the Radio Israel group as well as the deputy director of Radio South, director of 101.5FM Radio, and host of the Boker Tov Darom news program. She is a member of the Likud party, a member of the board of directors of the Beer Sheva theater and a volunteer at Maslan—The Negev's Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Support Center.

Ron Gerlitz Age 42; he is married and father of three children and lives in Srigim (in the Elah Valley). He is the co-director of Sikkuy, a Jewish-Arab organization that promotes equality and a shared society between the Jewish and Arab citizens in Israel. In his “previous life,” Ron was software and algorithm team leader, both in Israel and in Silicon Valley. He very much believes that a better world is possible, that the Left can return to power, and that the two are connected. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science and a master’s degree in public policy, both magna cum laude from the Hebrew University.

Roi Bantolila Age 33, married and father of four and lives in Mevo Beitar. Founder and director of Roim Leadership, which oversees provides corporate and social leadership development and provides workshops and lectures in the field. He plays on the Israeli wheelchair basketball team and is the founder and captain of the basketball group at Beit HaLohem in Jerusalem. He holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Bar-Ilan University and a master’s degree in organizational development and consulting from the College of Management.

Ruth Kabbesa-Abramzon Age 37; Ruth is an independent consultant and doctoral researcher on the effects of shared ethos on governance in Israel. She was a visiting researcher at UCLA and was the Head of Leadership and Governance at JDC-Israel. She also served as the director general of the community center in Hatzor Haglilit. Ruth is a graduate of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership and a member of the Tikkun Movement in Israel.

Zeinab Abu Sweid Age 32 and mother of Dudu and Saleh; she lives in Ka'abiyye-Tabbash-Hajajre in the Lower Galilee. She is a national-level inspector for civil-national service in the Prime Minister’s Office, a facilitator for groups on the Arab-Jewish conflict, and a founder of the Yanabi community for Arab women. She has a master’s degree in public policy and administration from the University of Haifa.