Einat Wilf


Einat Wilf is a former Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Independence and the Labor Party.

Biography

Einat Wilf was born in Jerusalem and raised in a Labor Zionist family. She studied at the Hebrew University Secondary School. She completed her military service as an Intelligence Officer in Unit 8200 with the rank of Lieutenant. 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.
Wilf describes herself as a Zionist and an atheist.

Political and business career

Wilf served as a Foreign Policy Advisor to Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres, a strategic consultant with McKinsey & Company 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 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. 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. 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, who had retired from politics. 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. She lost her Knesset seat in January 2013 when the party chose not to contest the elections.

Published works