Miri Regev

Miriam Siboni (later Miri Regev) was born in Kiryat Gat to Sephardi Jewish immigrants. She attended Rogozin High School in Kiryat Gat. Her father, Felix, was from Morocco and her mother, Mercedes, was from Spain.{{Cite web|title=Miri Regev's Culture War|access-date=20 October 2016|work=The New York Times|date=20 October 2016|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/23/magazine/miri-regevs-culture-war.html}} In 1983, she joined the Gadna, where she became a platoon commander, serving in the position until 1986. She earned a bachelor's degree in Informal Education from The Beit Berl academic college, and an MBA from Ono Academic College. She is married to Dror Regev, an engineer at Israel Aerospace Industries and has three children. Her husband is from a left-wing background

and holds some views opposing her own.{{cite web |title=Knesset Members: Miri Regev |url=https://knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=831 |website=knesset.gov.il}}{{cite web |title=Miri Regev, MK |url=http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/AboutIsrael/State/Personalities/Pages/Miri-Regev-MK.aspx |website=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs}}{{Cite web|title=Appointment of new IDF Spokesperson|work=dover.idf.il|access-date=14 November 2008|date=7 August 2007|url=http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/Announcements/2007/08/0702.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531061637/http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/Announcements/2007/08/0702.htm|archive-date=31 May 2008}}{{cite news |title=Minister Regev: "I also shout at my husband that he is a leftist" |url=http://www.mako.co.il/tv-people/articles/Article-5fd9f79da038851006.htm |work=mako |date=21 November 2016}}

She began serving as the IDF Spokesperson's representative in the Israeli Southern Command. Regev was promoted to a colonel rank for the position of Deputy IDF Spokesperson in 2002. In 2003, she was appointed coordinator of the national public relations efforts at the Israeli Prime Minister's Office in preparation for the Iraq War. After a short stint (2004–2005) as the Chief Press and Media Censor, she was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and to the position of IDF Spokesperson in 2005. She served in this position during Israel's disengagement from Gaza in 2005 and the 2006 Lebanon War.{{Cite news|title=IDF Spokeswoman Miri Regev to leave army|work=Jerusalem Post|access-date=26 December 2013|date=11 May 2007|url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel/IDF-Spokeswoman-Miri-Regev-to-leave-army}} In 2007, she was discharged and was succeeded by Avi Benayahu.

In November 2008, Regev joined the Likud party, saying that she had been a supporter of the party's platform for many years.{{Cite news|last=Somfalvi|first=Attila|title=Benny Begin to run for Knesset|work=Ynetnews|access-date=26 December 2013|date=2 November 2008|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3616291,00.html}} She won twenty-seventh place on the party's list for the 2009 elections, just high enough to enter the Knesset as Likud won 27 seats. At the 2015 elections Regev was re-elected, after being placed fifth on Likud's national list.{{cite web |title=Likud list |url=http://www.bechirot20.gov.il/election/Candidates/Pages/OneListCandidates.aspx?LPF=Search&WebId=6adadc15-e476-480b-9746-04490aedeb0f&ListID=ba72a662-765c-45af-9d48-fb68080956af&ItemID=56&FieldID=ListNickname_GxS_Text |website=Central Election Committee}} She was subsequently appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Minister of Culture and Sport in the new government.

Revital Madar, a Tunisian-Israeli writer for Haaretz,{{cite news |last1=Georgi |first1=Anat |title=The Israeli Melting Pot and Its Discontents |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/.premium-the-israeli-melting-pot-and-its-discontents-1.5242797 |work=Haaretz |date=14 May 2013 |language=en}} stated that Regev had faced discrimination due to her Moroccan origins, and her forthright behaviour is perceived as being stereotypically Mizrahi.{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.co.il/gallery/black-flag/.premium-1.2532770|title=למה מירי רגב דוחה את ראש הממשלה ומשה כחלון לא?|newspaper=הארץ}}

File:Thirty-fourth government of Israel (cropped-01).jpg, Ayelet Shaked (center) and Naftali Bennett (right)]]

In September 2015, four months in office, Regev announced a list of criteria that will cause the withdrawal of state funding the following year. The list included the deformation of state symbols and a call for boycotting Israel.{{cite news |title=The new criteria for budgeting cultural institutions |url=http://www.mako.co.il/news-military/politics-q3_2015/Article-1ff16e809ee8f41004.htm |work=mako |date=2 September 2015 |language=he}}

In July 2016, Regev announced that she would not participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremonies, because they take place on Shabbat.{{cite news |title=2016 Olympics: Israel's largest-ever delegation is ready for Rio |url=http://www.jta.org/2016/08/01/default/2016-olympics-israels-largest-ever-delegation-is-ready-for-rio |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=1 August 2016}}

In her position as Minister of Culture, Regev frequently equates artistic Freedom of Expression with the power of the government to withdraw its funding, using the term "Freedom of Funding".{{cite news |title=Miri Regev threatens to pull gov't funds from Israel Festival over nudity |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4969967,00.html |work=Ynetnews |date=6 January 2017 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Baruch |first1=Hezki |title=New Israeli show a slap in the face to bereaved families |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/227421 |work=Arutz Sheva |date=28 March 2017}} Regev also argued that state-funded artists or organisations must show "loyalty" to the Israeli state. She has called this a "Loyalty in Culture" initiative, and has proposed legislation making "support for a cultural institution dependent on its loyalty to the state of Israel".{{cite news |last1=Erlanger |first1=Steven |title=Israel, Mired in Ideological Battles, Fights on Cultural Fronts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/world/middleeast/israel-mired-in-ideological-battles-fights-on-cultural-fronts.html |work=The New York Times |date=29 January 2016}} She has said the group Breaking the Silence "hurts Israel's image" and accused a gallery that had hosted a talk by the group of "holding political activities".{{cite news |title=Gallery refuses eviction after hosting Israeli veterans' group |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/gallery-refuses-eviction-after-hosting-israeli-veterans-group |work=The Art Newspaper |date=15 March 2017}}

At the closing ceremony of the 2017 Maccabiah Games on 18 July 2017, Regev passed the Maccabiah torch to a number of Maccabiah athletes.{{cite news |title=20th Maccabiah Games open with spectacular Jerusalem ceremony |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Sports/20th-Maccabiah-Games-Opens-With-Spectacular-Ceremony-at-Teddy-Stadium-498976 |work=The Jerusalem Post}}{{cite news |title=Athletes make last medal pushes |url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Sports/Athletes-make-last-medal-pushes-499824 |work=The Jerusalem Post}}

In October 2018, she attended the Grand Slam Judo tournament in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.{{cite web |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20181026-israel-culture-minister-arrives-in-uae/ |title=Israel Culture Minister arrives in UAE |website=The Middle East Monitor |date=26 October 2018 }} During that tournament, Regev was overwhelmed as the Hatikva was played in a Muslim Arab capital.{{cite web |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20181030-when-regev-cried-in-abu-dhabi-and-netanyahu-in-muscat/ |title=When Regev cried in Abu Dhabi and Netanyahu in Muscat |website=The Middle East Monitor |date=30 October 2018 }}

In May 2020, Regev was offered the portfolio of Ministry of Transport, National Infrastructure and Road Safety for the first half of the 35th government of Israel and the portfolio of foreign minister during the second half of the incoming government's term.{{Cite web|title=Netanyahu said to offer Miri Regev Foreign Ministry when Gantz takes premiership|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-said-to-offer-miri-regev-foreign-ministry-when-gantz-takes-premiership/|last=staff|first=T. O. I.|website=www.timesofisrael.com|language=en-US|access-date=14 May 2020}} She was sworn in to this position on 17 May 2020.{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/.premium-israel-s-biggest-government-set-to-be-sworn-in-this-is-what-it-would-look-like-1.8845810|title=After year of deadlock and days of delays, Knesset swears in new Israeli government|newspaper=Haaretz}} She was replaced by Merav Michaeli following the formation of the 36th government on 14 June 2021.{{Cite news |last=זגריזק |first=אסף |date=14 June 2021 |title=שרת התחבורה מיכאלי: "נשחרר את התקיעות של המדינה" |language=he |work=Ynet |url=https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/Byvs86Nou |access-date=25 May 2022}}

On 29 December 2022, Regev was appointed the position for a second time by Benjamin Netanyahu during the formation of the thirty-seventh government of Israel.{{Cite web |title=Netanyahu hands out additional ministries to Likud MKs; Miri Regev back at transportation |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/netanyahu-hands-out-additional-ministries-to-likud-mks-miri-regev-back-at-transportation/ |access-date=6 January 2023 |website=www.timesofisrael.com |language=en-US}}

In May 2024, Channel 13 aired a report where the former Ministry of Transport chief of professional staff accused Regev of politicising the Ministry, giving preferential treatment to localities with higher levels of Likud support and to Likud activists.{{cite web|date=24 May 2024|title='Rot and corruption': AG said ready to investigate Miri Regev after damning report|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/rot-and-corruption-ag-said-ready-to-investigate-miri-regev-after-damning-report/|author-last=|author-first=|access-date=21 August 2024|work=The Times of Israel}} In early June 2024, the Lahav 433 unit of the Israel Police raided the Ministry's offices as part of an investigation into corruption following the Channel 13 report.{{cite web|date=10 June 2024|title=Police raid Transportation Ministry offices amid probe of alleged corruption|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-raid-transportation-ministry-offices-amid-probe-of-alleged-corruption/|author-last=|author-first=|access-date=21 August 2024|work=The Times of Israel}}

On 14 August 2021, Regev announced that she would run against Netanyahu as leader of Likud. Stressing her Sephardi background, she stated "The time has come to have a Sephardi prime minister, I think the Likud rank and file must vote this time for someone who represents their class, their ethnicity and their agenda." She also stated that she would not run against Netanyahu. She also made it clear that if she does not become leader of Likud, she may form a new party.{{cite web |last1=Hoffman |first1=Gil |title=Miri Regev announces run for prime minister: Stop voting for 'white people' |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/miri-regev-announces-run-for-prime-minister-stop-voting-for-white-people-676656 |work=Jerusalem Post|date=15 August 2021 }}

Gregg Carlstrom of The Atlantic described Regev in 2016 as "an acrimonious populist, who occasionally draws comparisons to Donald Trump."{{cite web|date=4 October 2016|title=The New Culture War in Netanyahu's Israel|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/10/israel-culture-regev-netanyahu-palestine/501245/|author-last=Carlstrom|author-first=Gregg|access-date=21 August 2024|work=The Atlantic}}

In May 2012, at a demonstration against illegal immigrants in Tel Aviv, Regev said that "Sudanese infiltrators are a cancer in the nation's body".{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/05/24/israel-miri-regev-african-migrants-cancer-our-body-tel-aviv_n_1542070.html|title=Israeli MP Miri Regev Says African Migrants Are 'A Cancer In Our Body' At Tel Aviv Protest|work=The Huffington Post|date=25 May 2012|access-date=1 May 2017}}{{cite news |last=Schechter|first=Asher|url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/elections/how-likud-mk-miri-regev-talked-her-way-to-the-top.premium-1.486254|title=How Likud MK Miri Regev Talked Her Way to the Top|newspaper=Haaretz|date=21 December 2012|access-date=1 May 2017}}{{cite news |last=Schechter|first=Asher|url=http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.663151|title=How the Right-wing Already Won Israel's Culture War|newspaper=Haaretz|date=27 June 2015|access-date=1 May 2017}}{{cite news |last=Nesher|first=Talila |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/demonstrators-attack-african-migrants-in-south-tel-aviv-1.432262|title=Demonstrators attack African migrants in south Tel Aviv Israel News|newspaper=Haaretz|date=24 May 2012|access-date=26 December 2013}} She later said that the quote was misrepresented, and, while justifying the comparison, apologized for seeming to compare human beings to cancer.{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Miri-Regev-apologizes-for-calling-migrants-cancer|title=Miri Regev apologizes for calling migrants 'cancer'|author=Hoffman, Gil|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post|date=27 May 2012|access-date=26 December 2013}} In a 2012 interview, in response to criticism alleging that her views were totalitarian, Regev said that she was "happy to be a fascist".{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/2012-12-21/ty-article/.premium/how-a-likud-mk-talked-her-way-to-the-top/0000017f-f6d2-d318-afff-f7f3a2450000|title=How Likud MK Miri Regev Talked Her Way to the Top

|author=Schechter, Asher|newspaper=Haaretz|date=21 December 2012|access-date=28 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704100345/https://www.haaretz.com/2012-12-21/ty-article/.premium/how-a-likud-mk-talked-her-way-to-the-top/0000017f-f6d2-d318-afff-f7f3a2450000|archive-date=4 July 2022}}{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-sarah-palin-of-israel|title=The Sarah Palin of Israel

|author1=Ben-David, Ricky |author2=Yadin, Nira|newspaper=The Daily Beast|date=18 February 2015|access-date=28 January 2024}}{{cite web|title=Miri Regev: I'm happy to be a fascist |publisher=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pvfitnv5qc|language=he|format=video|date=4 July 2016}} In 2016, fellow Likud legislator Gila Gamliel called comments by Regev advocating for state control over the content of a public broadcasting company "borderline fascist". Benjamin Netanyahu has defended Regev from charges of fascism, stating that "'there was a tendency within the left to denigrate opponents as fascist'.{{efn|Quoting the Encyclopedia Hebraica entry on fascism}} It is a derogatory name [used] by the left for its enemies."{{cite news|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-shrugs-off-charges-of-fascism-as-leftist-rhetoric/|title=Netanyahu shrugs off charges of 'fascism' as leftist rhetoric|author=Wootliff, Raoul|newspaper=The Times of Israel|date=3 August 2016|access-date=28 January 2024}}

Regev met with LGBT members of her party,[http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4323602,00.html Regev is a source of pride?] ynet.co.il, Evan Cohen, Dror Mizrachi Posted: 12/24/12 saying that "not only the left can support and embrace the gay community".{{cite news |last1=Mualem |first1=Mazal |title=Likud's Miri Regev Challenges Netanyahu's Grip on the Party |url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/fr/originals/2013/06/prime-minister-netanyahu-miri-regev.html#ixzz3cxDTrwYz |work=Al-Monitor |date=20 June 2013 |language=en}} In November 2018, Regev expressed support for a law that would allow surrogacy for same-sex male couples in Israel, stating that the coalition's decision to vote against the law was wrong and emphasized the right of LGBT individuals to be parents and raise children.{{cite web |title=רגב: זכותם של הלהט"בים להיות אבות |url=https://www.inn.co.il/news/385981 |publisher=Arutz Sheva |date=6 November 2018 |accessdate=25 March 2023}}

Regev participated in the Israeli nationalist Dance of Flags march in May 2023.{{cite web|date=18 May 2023|title=Israel deploys heavy police presence for annual flag march through Jerusalem|url=https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20230518-israel-deploys-heavy-police-presence-for-annual-flag-march-through-jerusalem|author-last=|author-first=|access-date=21 August 2024|work=France24}} In July 2024, after the Israeli military police visited Sde Teiman detention camp to detain nine Israeli soldiers suspected of abuse of a Palestinian prisoner, Regev commented that arrests of Israeli soldiers were "dangerous" during war, and warned against military prosecutions that were "appeasing our enemies".{{cite news |last1=Peleg |first1=Bar |last2=Solomon |first2=Eden |last3=Maanit |first3=Chen |last4=Kubovich |first4=Yaniv |title=IDF Moves Troops to Base Where Violent Mob Protested Arrest of Soldiers for Abusing Gaza Detainee |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-30/ty-article/.premium/idf-move-troops-to-base-where-mob-protested-arrest-of-soldiers-for-abusing-gaza-detainee/00000191-008a-d643-a1d1-b88eb6730001 |access-date=30 July 2024 |work=Haaretz |date=30 July 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240730082455/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-30/ty-article/.premium/idf-move-troops-to-base-where-mob-protested-arrest-of-soldiers-for-abusing-gaza-detainee/00000191-008a-d643-a1d1-b88eb6730001 |archive-date=30 July 2024}}

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