Shelly Rachel Yachimovich (; born 28 March 1960) is an Israeli politician, who served three terms as the official Leader of the Opposition, a member of the Knesset, and a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. She served as leader of the Israeli Labor Party between 2011 and 2013. Before entering politics, she was a journalist, an author, and a television and radio commentator.
Early life Yachimovich was born in Kfar Saba. Her father, Moshe, was a construction worker and her mother, Hanna, a teacher. Both parents were Holocaust survivors who immigrated to Israel from Poland. She became politically engaged at an early age, and was expelled from Ostrovsky high school in Ra'anana at age 15 for hanging up posters denouncing the principal's style of leadership. She was conscripted in 1978, and in 1985, Yachimovich graduated from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev with a degree in behavioural science.
Journalism and media career
While studying in Beersheba, she worked as a correspondent for the Al HaMishmar newspaper. She went on to become an anchor for the Israel Broadcasting Authority's radio station Reshet Bet, earning a reputation as opinionated and critical of conventional wisdom and the establishment. As a journalist, she covered women's and social welfare issues. In October 2000, following a work dispute, she left her radio job and joined Channel 2 TV, where she hosted a political talk show and served as a news commentator. She also did a weekly program for Israel Army Radio (Galei Tzahal).
Southern Lebanon conflict As a journalist, Yachimovich was credited in giving prominent stage on national radio for activists of the "Four Mothers" advocacy group who campaigned for Israel's withdrawal from Southern Lebanon.
The group was established in February 1997 by four mothers who have lost their sons in the Israeli helicopter disaster. The founders formed a pressure group advocating a withdrawal, pointing out the excessive cost in human lives of a continuing Israeli presence in Southern Lebanon. Yachimovich and military affairs journalist Carmela Menashe were the first to give stage to the group's agenda, helping the grass-roots movement strike at the heart of Israeli public debate.
The growing discussion over Israel's role in Southern Lebanon eventually led prime minister Ehud Barak to announce a withdrawal plan in 2000, amid vocal criticism over Yachimovich's agenda from military officials. Four Mothers' group leaders later noted that Menashe's and Yachimovich's support was crucial in promoting their goal.
Bank Hapoalim layoffs Bank Hapoalim, one of Israel's largest financial institutions, had announced in late 2002 that it was about to cut 10% of its workforce of about 900 employees, many of whom were tenured under the bank's employment contract. Criticism of the plan came from the Histadrut labor union, which questioned the necessity of such a massive layoff amidst ILS 1 billion in profits for the bank that year. First filing legal action against the bank via the Tel Aviv District Labor Court, the Histadrut union also went on to embark on a massive public relations campaign against the bank's management.
The bank's main shareholder, American-Israeli businesswoman Shari Arison, one of Israel's wealthiest women, led a press conference to defend the layoffs, on advice from her public relations consultant Rani Rahav. Arison expressed regret for the layoffs, characterizing management's decision as an example of national responsibility. Critics rejected her argument as being poorly constructed, claiming that her remarks only seemed to demonstrate that for the country's wealthiest, national responsibility means profit maximization.
Histadrut labor union chairman Amir Peretz, who was facing upcoming Histadrut leadership elections, then led a campaign personally attacking Arison, publishing billboards with the slogan 'Shari Arison laughs, 900 families cry'. Agitated about the slogan, Arison threatened Poster Media, the company that put up the billboards and which was partly owned by Arison, with a $10 million libel suit, successfully halting the campaign.
Yachimovich entered the discussion by airing a critical review of Shari Arison's conduct, on her editorial segment in Channel 2 news. She warned that the threats of a lawsuit provided an example of how the rich and successful are able to arrange things to their liking, in this case by firing such a large number of employees and then silencing public criticism of the move.
The next day, Arison's consultant Rani Rahav published an assertive open letter attacking Yachimovich, faxing it to 500 of Israel's top CEO's and media personalities. The letter, containing the phrase 'Bad, bad Shelly' multiple times, was described by press as childish.
In the letter, Rahav asked Yachimovich to depart Israel, claiming she should be grateful that wealthy people choose to live in Israel, invest in its economy and donate to charitable causes within it. Later that year, when Arison relocated her residence to the United States, Rahav published yet a second open letter titled 'You won, Shelly', blaming Yachimovich in Arison's relocation.
Entry to political life On 29 November 2005, two weeks after Amir Peretz was interviewed by Yachimovich on "Meet the Press" for the occasion of his election as leader of the Labor Party, Yachimovich announced she was leaving journalism and entering politics. She ran in the Labor primaries and achieved the ninth place on the party's list for the 2006 elections, in which she was elected to the Knesset.
Yachimovich was criticized on her sharp move from journalism to politics. Critics noted that it was inappropriate for a watchdog journalist to become a member of the system she was supposed to be guarding. Others alleged that the interview she had with Peretz shortly before joining politics must have lacked professional impartiality, according to journalism ethics. Following criticisms, a cooling-off period of three months was imposed on journalists by Israeli broadcast regulator The Second Authority in late 2005. Yachimovich later claimed on her behalf that she didn't have the slightest idea of joining politics on her mind during that interview. She also declared that she opposes any cooling-off periods on joining politics, arguing that these should instead be imposed on parliamentarians and civil servants who upon leaving the public sphere immediately join high-profile positions in the private sector, exploiting their influence to make private profits.
Despite criticisms, her entry to political life was preceded and followed by numerous other Israeli journalists who ran for a Knesset seat, including Nitzan Horowitz, Yair Lapid, Nachman Shai, Uri Orbach, Ofer Shelach and Merav Michaeli. Public debate has continued to question this practice, leading to a failed Knesset bill to be debated in 2010 and again in 2012, proposing a cooling-off period of 6 months for journalists before entering politics.
17th Knesset The 17th Knesset, which span from April 2006 to February 2009, saw the Labor party joining the Kadima-led coalition under prime-minister Ehud Olmert in the thirty-first government of Israel. Yachimovich was quickly growing critical of Labor's role in the government, as she believed the party was not executing its social-democratic mandate. She also became frustrated of then party leader Peretz, citing his choice to become Minister of Defense over an economically related minister, as a choice that created a personal, ideological and political drift between them. She consequently started to divert from voting along party lines and opposed the 2006 State Budget bill. Responding to criticisms, she justified her stance by claiming that most Knesset members and ministers who voted for the State Budget bill had not actually read it, and had not debated its long term consequences, which she deemed irrational. In the February 2007 party leadership primaries, she endorsed Ehud Barak over Ami Ayalon, pointing out that while she couldn't see the difference between them as both were not representing social-democratic values, Barak still had a better shot at leading the party to electoral victories.
She received The Knight of Quality Government award from the Movement for Quality Government in Israel in 2008. The selection committee commemorated her as being one of the very few elected officials who attacks Crony capitalism practices; who consistently supports the Supreme Court and State Comptroller legitimacy and standing; and who voices out for the issues of the less-privileged classes of society.
In 2009, Yachimovich leaked an undisclosed version of the forthcoming State Budget bill's Arrangements Act, the traditional addendum to the yearly budget, on her website and invited ordinary citizens to provide comments on its contents. She also released a detailed criticism of many of the State Budget's proposals, mainly in regard to proposed cutbacks to governmental services. The publication of the complete document, which under normal circumstances is being kept under the strictest secrecy in the Ministry of Finance and only distributed in small portions to selected officials, has been described as explosive, and an unprecedented event in the bill's history. As a result of the leak, the Bill came under public scrutiny and was susceptible to a wide debate in the Knesset and over the media, eventually causing the Ministry of Finance to withdraw some of its proposals for budget cutbacks. Furthermore, the case brought into question the Arrangements Act's objectives, with critics noting it bypasses the Knesset by essentially cancelling out previous legislation in a swipe of hand.
Legislation Yachimovich legislated and participated in legislating 17 laws during term. Among the more prominent ones are: The Wages Protection law (24th amendment): Payslips.
The amendment was put in force to make it easier for employees to detect ill labour practices. It made it illegal for employers not to provide a monthly payslip detailing the data on which employees' salary was based. The amendment required employers to keep a detailed track of employees' work and make it transparent to the latter. Payslips should state data such as employees' base salary, social benefits, overtime hours, vacation days, sick days, and the eventual hourly wage. The amendment also required employers to keep track of employees attendance for the first time, targeting the protection of employees working long hours in Law, Audit and Hi-tech firms. Following the legislation, many employers from those sectors feared their employees would notice that they aren't making the national minimum hourly wage, when taking into account their fixed salaries versus the excessively long work hours common in those industries.
The Right to Sit While Working law.
The law aimed at stopping a common practice in many grocery stores and drug stores where cashiers were asked to work the tills while standing for the entire shift, although there was no practical reason for them not to sit. Labor rights organizations backed the law by claiming that the practice was insulting and disrespectful, while large chain-store retailer Super-Pharm fiercely lobbied against the law, arguing it should reserve the right to serve customers the way it sees fit. The law recognized the right to sit while working, and forced employers to provide chairs for the cashiers, salespersons and service workers unless employers could prove that the job at hand could not have been carried out from a sitting position.
The Knesset law (25th amendment): Regulating Lobbyists' Activity.