Heba Yazbak

Heba Yazbak (Arabic: هبة يزبك‎, Hebrew: הֵיבַּא יָזְבָּק‎, born 8 July 1985) is an Israeli Arab politician, sociologist and academic. She is currently a member of the Knesset for the Joint List.

Heba Yazbak
Date of birth (1985-07-08) 8 July 1985
Place of birthNazareth, Israel
Knessets21, 22, 23
Faction represented in Knesset
2019Balad
2019–Joint List

Biography

Yazbak was born in Nazareth into a Muslim family; her father Mahmoud is a historian at the University of Haifa focusing on Middle Eastern history.[1] She attended the Salvatorian Sisters Catholic High School and earnt a BA in social work at the University of Haifa. She studied for a MA in social work and was a PhD student at Tel Aviv University,[1] where she also worked as a researcher and lecturer on sociology, focussing on Palestinian society and gender issues.[2]

Yazbak became involved with Balad at the age of 15, and joined the party whilst at university, becoming chair of the University of Haifa branch.[1] She was placed sixth on the party's list for the 2013 Knesset elections,[3] but the party won only three seats. Prior to the April 2019 Knesset elections, she was placed second on the Balad list.[2] With Balad running a joint list with the United Arab List, she was placed fourth on the alliance's list,[4] and was elected to the Knesset as it won four seats. In the build-up to the September 2019 elections, Balad rejoined the Joint List alliance, with Yazbak placed eighth on the alliance's list.[5] She was re-elected when it won 13 seats.

Prior to the March 2020 elections, several parties requested that Yazbak be banned from contesting the elections under the electoral law banning candidates who had openly supported armed conflict against Israel, as she had referred to Lebanese militant Samir Kuntar as a martyr in a post on Facebook.[6] However, the High Court allowed her to run.[7]

References
  1. Meet the Woman Set to Shatter Stereotypes About Arab Lawmakers in Israel Haaretz, 4 April 2019
  2. From a ‘Love Hormone’ Expert to a Martial Arts Champ: Meet the New Faces in the 2019 Election Race Haaretz, 3 March 2019
  3. 2013 Balad list Israel Democracy Institute
  4. Ra'am–Balad list CEC
  5. Joint List Central Elections Committee
  6. This time around, Arab MK Heba Yazbak could be barred from Knesset run The Times of Israel, 21 January 2020
  7. Khaled Abu Toameh (15 March 2020). "Why did Balad change its mind about Benny Gantz? – analysis". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
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