Kahlon announces first woman for Kulanu list
Dr. Yifat Bitton is the deputy mayor of Kiryat Shmona and holds PhD in education.
Dr. Yifat Bitton, member of the Kiryat Shmona City Council, is expected to become the first woman to join Moshe Kahlon's Kulani party list, Kahlon announced Monday.
A mother of three, Bitton, who holds a PhD in education, was born in Kiryat Shmona and has lived there her entire life. She holds a high-ranking position at the Ohalo College of Education, a teacher training college in the town of Katzrin in the Golan Heights.
Six years ago, Bitton ran in the mayoral elections in Kiryat Shmona but ended up serving as the deputy for current Mayor Rabbi Nissim Malka.
Residents of Kiryat Shmona said Bitton had led important processes during her time as deputy mayor but had trouble working with other city council and municipality members. "If she will be elected to the Knesset it will be good for the north in general and especially for Kiryat Shmona," said a Kiryat Shmona resident on Monday morning. "The north has suffered from under representation in the past Knesset and it was reflected in the bleak committee acts in favor of the periphery and the north.
Bitton will join Eli Alalouf, the previous chairman of the War on Poverty committee and CEO of the Rashi Foundation, and Michael Oren – the American-born Israeli historian and previous ambassador to the United States, who have already joined Kahlon's list.
Kahlon has said that his list will be compiled of candidates who are not politicians - those that will bring a wealth of experience in the social and political spheres.
When he announced Alalouf's inclusion in the Kulanu list Kahlon said: "In the last decade we have seen a steady rise in the number of poor people in Israel. We reached the dubious achievement of third place in poverty in developed countries. I have no doubt that correct leadership, with minimal sensitivity for the disadvantaged and the needs of the middle class, would bring us to a different place – a much more respectable one. This is a failure that all of us must treat."
