Merav Michaeli, the Knesset member elected on Sunday to lead Israel’s beleaguered Labor Party, cleared her schedule last Wednesday to watch Kamala Harris be sworn in as the first female vice president in American history. For Michaeli, a former journalist and staunch feminist, this glass-ceiling moment was very important.
“This gives other women the example, the power and the strength to look up and see that it’s possible and to follow suit and also fight for the things that they want to see happen,” Michaeli explained in an interview on Friday.
“The most important thing that I can do for women and for equality is to gain a lot of political power for our side of the map,” she added, “so that when we once again get back into power to change the system the way it should be changed in order to allow women the rights that they deserve.”