A Haaretz editorial compared Israel’s new justice minister to Sarah Palin, detailing sexist reactions that compared the female politico to a pin-up girl and Nazi.
Ayelet Shaked has faced attacks reminiscent of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, appointed as Sen. John McCain’s vice presidential running mate in 2008, according to Haaretz writer Allison Kaplan Sommer.
After Shaked’s appointment, a member of Israel’s parliament, known as the Knesset, wrote on Facebook, “finally, we have a justice minister worthy of being featured on a calendar in an auto repair shop,” according to Sommer.
Then, Knesset member Joseph Paritsky doubled down on his statements regarding Shaked in a radio interview: “I mean, this is not a person who avoids presenting herself before the camera,” said Paritsky. “It’s not like I took someone who had never struck a model’s pose to exhibit her beauty, and she is very beautiful– like many of the Reich’s women.”
Shaked and Palin represent successful right-wing women who challenge the feminist left, argues Sommer.
Female Israeli politicians are defending Shaked from sexist attacks despite disagreeing with her ideology, says Sommer. Zehava Galon, leader of the left-wing Meretz party, criticized the misogynistic rhetoric against Shaked on Facebook.
“I won’t spare her tough criticism when and where she takes advantage of her position to damage our legal system, but I have no intention of remaining silent when every few days someone pollutes the public arena with these miserable statements about her,” wrote Galon, as reported by Sommer.
Shaked, a 39 year-old mother of two, has been followed by a controversy unrelated to her appearance or conservative policy- rather, stemming from a Facebook post.
After three Jewish settlers were killed by Palestinian militants last summer, Shaked posted an excerpt from an article written by a Jewish settler, calling Palestinian children “little snakes” and claiming their mothers raised them to become martyrs.
The Electronic Intifada, a pro-Palestinian website, published an English translation of Shaked’s entire post, accusing the right-wing politician of calling for the genocide of Palestinians.
The speaker of the Knesset ordered a security detail for Shaked in response to threatening statements after being appointed as justice minister. A photoshopped image of Shaked in a Nazi uniform emerged on social media with lines referring to Shaked’s Facebook quote.
Shaked belongs to Jewish Home, a Jewish nationalist party advocating for annexing more than half of the West Bank. Party leader Naftali Bennett insisted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu choose Shaked for the position, a last-minute pick in forming the coalition. (RELATED: Netanyahu Forms Ruling Coalition Less Than 2 HOURS Before Deadline)
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