Einat Wilf

Einat Wilf (Hebrew: עינת וילף; born 11 December 1970)^[1] is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Independence and the Labor Party.^[2][3]

Einat Wilf
עינת וילף
Faction represented in the Knesset
2010–2011	Labor Party
2011–2013	Independence
Personal details
Born	(1970-12-11) December 11, 1970 (age 54) Jerusalem, Israel
Spouse	Richard Gutjahr ​ (m. 2007)​

Biography

Einat Wilf was born in Jerusalem and raised in a Labor Zionist family. She studied at the Hebrew University High School in Western Jerusalem. She completed her military service as an intelligence officer in Unit 8200^[4] with the rank of Lieutenant.^[5] She then went to Harvard University, receiving a BA in government and fine arts, before earning an MBA from INSEAD in France, and subsequently a PhD in political science at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge.

Wilf married German journalist and television personality Richard Gutjahr in 2007. She gave birth to their son in 2010.^[6]

Wilf describes herself as a Zionist, a feminist and an atheist.^[7]

Political and business career

Wilf served as a Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres,^[8] a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company^[9] in New York City, and a General Partner with Koor Corporate Venture Capital in Israel. Upon her return to Israel, Wilf worked as a Senior Fellow with the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute and a weekly columnist for the daily newspaper Israel HaYom. Wilf also taught social entrepreneurship at Sapir College, as well as being a frequent guest on Israeli radio and television talk shows and a member of the President's Conference Steering Committee.

In 2007, she ran for the presidency of the World Jewish Congress.^[10] However, she withdrew before the actual vote, and Ronald Lauder was elected president.

A member of the Israeli Labor Party, Wilf was placed 39th on the party's list for the 2003 elections, but failed to win a seat.^[11] She won fourteenth place on the party's list for the 2009 Knesset elections. Although Labor won only 13 seats, Wilf entered the Knesset on 10 January 2010 as a replacement for Ophir Pines-Paz,^[12] who had retired from politics.^[13] However, in January 2011, she was one of five MKs to leave the party to establish the new Independence party under the leadership of Ehud Barak.^[14] She lost her Knesset seat in January 2013 when the party chose not to contest the elections.

In June 2024, she joined the Israeli Citizen Spokespersons' office and launched a new podcast titled, Deep Dive.^[15]

Political views

Wilf advocates the legalization of soft drugs, citing the argument that the existing circumstances contribute to elevated levels of criminal activity.^[16][17]

According to Wilf, the core of the Israel-Palestinian conflict is not primarily territorial, but revolves around the issue of Palestinian refugees. She claims that without addressing this matter, a resolution to the conflict remains elusive.^[18] Wilf has consistently emphasized the imperative of taking action in the UN to dissolve UNRWA, contending that it perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem.^[19] During Operation Protective Edge Wilf frequently engaged with the media, expressing concerns about UNRWA's nature, characterizing it not as a humanitarian organization but as a "hostile Palestinian organization that work to perpetuate the dream of return".^[20]

The War of Return

In the 2020 book The War of Return, Wilf and Adi Schwartz argue that the Palestinian right of return is not a right, but a thinly veiled attempt for the destruction of Israel, and is the most salient reason there has not been peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

Published works

• My Israel, Our Generation, BookSurge Publishing (2007), ISBN 1-4196-5913-8
• Back to Basics: The Road to Saving Israel's Education (at no extra cost), Yedioth Ahronot (April 2008)
• Global actors and global politics : the case of the World Jewish Congress campaign against the Swiss Banks (thesis, Cambridge 2008) Cambridge, UK.
• Symposium on Rabin's legacy, Fathom, Autumn 2015
• Winning the War of Words: Essays on Zionism and Israel, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (November 3, 2015), ISBN 978-1515072973
• Perry Anderson's House of Zion: A Symposium, Fathom, Spring 2016
• Telling Our Story: Essays on Zionism, the Middle East, and the Path to Peace, CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (March 19, 2018), ISBN 978-1515072973
• The War of Return: How Western Indulgence of the Palestinian Dream Has Obstructed the Path to Peace, with Adi Schwartz, St. Martin’s Publishing Group (2020), ISBN 978-1250252760