Yifat Bitton

This article is about the Israeli law professor. For the Kulanu MK, see Yifat Shasha-Biton.

Yifat Bitton
Head shot of a woman
Born1971[citation needed]
Kiryat Malachi
SpouseEyal Sternberg
Children2
Academic background
Alma mater
ThesisRe-reading Tort Law from an Egalitarian Perspective

Yifat Bitton (Hebrew: יפעת ביטון) is an Israeli Law professor, and activist. She is the president of the Achva Academic College of education & science. She is the founder of Tmura—The Israeli Anti-discrimination Center, which advocates for the rights of women who have suffered abuse. She was shortlisted for Israel's Supreme Court twice.[1][2][3] In February 2019, Bitton entered politics,[4] and joined Ehud Barak in the formation of a new political party .[5][6]

Career

From 1996 to 1997 Bitton clerked for Israeli Supreme Court Justice Mishael Cheshin.[7] In 2006, Bitton founded Tmura—The Israeli Anti-discrimination Center, which advocates for women who have experienced sexual violence and violation of their economic rights.[8] She is a civil rights activist, focusing on equality for the Mizrahi population.[9]

Bitton was on the list of candidates for Israel's Supreme Court in 2017 and 2018,[10][11][12] the youngest woman to ever appear on the list.[1][13] She currently serves as the President of Achva academic college of education & science[14] and in the past served as an associate professor at Israel's College of Management Academic Studies Law School. Prof. Bitton taught for 5 years as an Affiliated Transnational Visiting professor at Peking University School of Transnational Law. She was also a visiting professor at New York University.[7][15]

Politics

In February 2019, Bitton joined the Gesher party led by Orly Levy,[2][16] receiving the third spot on the list.[17] In the April 2019 Israeli legislative election, Gesher did not make it into the Knesset.[4] Bitton joined Ehud Barak at a press conference in June 2019 announcing the formation of a new political party to challenge Benjamin Netanyahu in the September elections. The new party, Israel Democratic Party, joined other parties to create the Democratic Union list, with Bitton being placed seventh on the joint list.[18]

Bitton is a member of the Israeli Law Professors' Forum for Democracy, established in 2023 to respond to the Israeli coalition's plans for changes in the legal system.[19]

Education

Bitton spent the 2004–2005 academic year at Harvard Law.[20] Bitton holds a PhD as well as an LLB and LLM from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Master of Laws degree from Yale Law School.[15][20]

Personal life

Bitton was born in Kiryat Malachi and lives in Herzliya. She is married to Eyal Sternberg, a lawyer, and they have two children.[11][21]

Awards

Bitton has won The Aliance Prize for Education and Social Change; The Minister of Social Equality and President's Award for Organizations Fighting Violence against Women (Tmura); "Honoris Causa" Award of the Israeli Bar Association; The Safra Award for Excellence and Contribution to Israeli Society; The Hadassah Foundation Bernice Tennenbaum Prize for innovative feminist; The Human Rights Activist Award of The London Human Rights Annual Dinner and Dafna Izraeli Fund's Prize for Israeli Feminist Leadership.[citation needed]

Bitton was also Nominated Forbes' 50 Most Influential Women in Israel.[8][22]

References

  1. ^ a b "Prof. Yifat Bitton". Israeli American Council. 22 October 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  2. ^ a b Karni, Yuval (17 February 2019). "The election connections". ynetnews. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  3. ^ Bob, Yonah Jeremy (7 November 2016). "Who are the candidates for the 4 Supreme Court vacancies?". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  4. ^ a b Hoffman, Gil (9 April 2019). "Kulanu stays in Knesset; Gesher out". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  5. ^ Hoffman, Gil (26 June 2019). "Barak forms new anti-Netanyahu party". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  6. ^ Magid, Jacob (2 July 2019). "Jewish Home activist bolts national religious party for new Barak slate". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.{cite web}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ a b "Hadassah Foundation honors Yifat Bitton (press release)". San Diego Jewish World. 12 June 2014.
  9. ^ "The Israeli melting pot and its discontents". haaretz.com. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  10. ^ מענית, חן (8 January 2018). "צפו ברשימה: אלה המועמדים הסופיים לבית המשפט העליון". Globes (in Hebrew). Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  11. ^ a b "אולי הפעם? פרופ' יפעת ביטון מועמדת לתפקיד שופטת בית המשפט העליון". המקור (in Hebrew). 15 January 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  12. ^ "יש שופטים בירושלים - ובקרוב ארבעה חדשים". TheMarker (in Hebrew). 21 October 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  13. ^ Shaw, Justin. ""70 Faces of Israel" featuring Professor Yifat Bitton on "Fighting Discrimination: the Story of Israeli Jews from Arab Lands"". Columbus Jewish News.
  14. ^ "Prof. yifat bitton - מכללת אחוה". www.achva.ac.il. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Staff Members Archive". The College of Management Academic Studies. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  16. ^ Philpot, Robert (20 February 2019). "Levy-Abekasis: No merger with Gantz after his 'weird, hallucinatory' behavior". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  17. ^ "רשימת מועמדים".
  18. ^ Chaim Levinson; Bar Peleg (25 July 2019). "Democratic Union Leaders Launch Campaign: Left Has Never Been Stronger; Netanyahu – Your Time Is Up". Haaretz. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  19. ^ https://www.lawprofsforum.org/en
  20. ^ a b "The Dream and Its Construction: Mizrahi-Arab Cooperation to Combat Discrimination". Journal of Levantine Studies. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  21. ^ מתיה, אבישי (8 November 2013). "ד"ר יפעת ביטון: "הייתי רוצה להיוולד גבר לבן, בעל כוח והשפעה"". Globes (in Hebrew). Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  22. ^ "Hadassah Foundation Awards Bernice S. Tannenbaum Award To Dr. Yifat Bitton". eJewish Philanthropy. 15 June 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2019.