Politicsדליה איציק

Dalia Itzik

Dalia Itzik is an Israeli former politician who in 2006 became the first woman to serve as Speaker of the Knesset and in 2007 served as acting President of Israel.

born 1952First female Speaker of the KnessetActing President of Israel in 2007Ministerial posts in Labor governments

Born: 20 October 1952, Jerusalem
Occupation: politician, trade unionist, educator
Party: Kadima, Israeli Labor Party, One Israel
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Reichman University

Dalia Itzik was born in 1952 in Jerusalem

Itzik was born in Jerusalem in 1952 to parents who were Jews from Iraq. Her family was poor. She attended a religious high school in Jerusalem.

She trained as a teacher and later earned a BA in literature and history from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She also earned a BA in law from IDC Herzliya.

She worked as a teacher and headed the teachers' union in Jerusalem. She sat on the executive committee of the Israel Broadcasting Authority and served as deputy to Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek. In 1988 she was seriously injured in a car crash that killed Knesset member Michael Reisser.

She entered the Knesset for the Labor Party in 1992. She served as Minister of the Environment, Minister of Industry and Trade, and Minister of Communications, then moved to Kadima in 2005. From 2006 to 2009 she was Speaker of the Knesset and in 2007 served as acting president until Shimon Peres took office.

In 2012 she announced her retirement from politics. She ran in the 2014 presidential election and came third. In 2021 she was appointed chair of the board of Hadassah Medical Center.