Adina Bar Shalom
Adina Bar ShalomFlash 90

Adina Bar-Shalom, the daughter of the late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, officially registered her new political party on Monday.

The faction is called "Achi Yisraeli", or "My Israeli Brother" and Bar-Shalom wrote in the registration documents that it's purpose is to establish "a new political home based on a politics of common good - moderation, mutual respect, and the pursuit of an agreement. The party will enlist activists from various sides of Israeli society in a joint political process. "

The fledgling party also promised to "promote coexistence in Israel, as a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state, to allow the different sectors to preserve their identity in recognition of the other, with mutual respect and adherence to non-coercion".

While the faction appears to be dominated by a social agenda, it does not shy away from divisive issues, such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, writing that "We will act proactively to advance the peace agreement and arrangements for ending the conflict with our neighbors, while understanding the need for compromise on both sides."

A 72-year-old mother of three, Bar-Shalom won the 2014 Israel Prize for her work as a haredi educator, including the founding of the first haredi women’s college in 2001.

Bar-Shalom drew criticism in 2011 when she endorsed a plan calling on Israel to surrender the Golan Heights and enable the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. In May of that year, Bar-Shalom again raised eyebrows when she joined a delegation of Israeli activists in a meeting with senior Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah.

Bar-Shalom' had supported Shas while it was headed by her father Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef until he passed away in October 2013. She has since become an avowed opponent of Shas and its leader Aryeh Deri, saying in March that "it is a shame that he went to jail and became completely corrupt."