MK Yael (Yuli) Tamir, one of the more left-wing members of the left-wing Labor Party, has submitted her resignation from the Knesset. She will be replaced by former MK Raleb Majadle, who was Israel’s first-ever Arab Cabinet minister.
Tamir’s resignation will take effect on Tuesday. She is the second Labor MK, following Ophir Pines-Paz, to resign from the Knesset in recent months. Both Tamir and Pines were members of the now-defunct faction within Labor that opposed both Ehud Barak’s party leadership and his decision to bring the party into the Netanyahu government.
Ironically, it was Barak who personally drew Tamir into politics, as Barak was preparing his upset victory over Netanyahu in the 1999 elections. Tamir then became Minister of Immigrant Absorption in the Barak government from 1999 until 2001, and later served in the Knesset from 2003 until now.
As Education Minister under Prime Minister Ehud Olmert from 2006 until 2009, the former Peace Now founding member made headlines by comparing Yitzchak Rabin Day to Holocaust Day in importance, and insisting that the Green Line [marking the areas liberated by Israel during the Six Day War] be depicted in Israeli text books. She caused another controversy when she attempted to cut back drastically the National Service volunteer program for religious high-school graduate girls who do not perform military service.
Tamir, who was recently diagnosed with cancer, will become President of Shenkar College for Design.
Majadle, Tamir’s replacement in the Knesset, was an MK from 2004 until 2009, and served as Minister of Science, Culture and Sport in the Olmert government.
It has also been rumored in political circles that yet another Labor MK, Shalom Simchon, will soon resign. A former Agriculture Minister, Simchon is said to be headed for the position of Jewish National Fund head.