Yael German

Yael German was born in 1947 in Haifa

German was born in Haifa and grew up in Ramat Gan. At age 9 she spent a year in Istanbul with her family, where her father worked. She married at 19 and so did not serve in the IDF.

She trained as a teacher at Levinsky College and earned a degree in history from Tel Aviv University. In 1980 she founded an adult education school in Herzliya and ran it until 1987. From 1987 to 1994 she managed an electronics factory.

She joined Shinui in 1988 and later Meretz, and entered the Herzliya city council in 1993. In 1998 she became mayor of Herzliya, the first woman in the post. As mayor she opposed the spread of cellular antennas, founded the Herzliya Ensemble Theater and removed fluoride from the city's water.

In 2013 she was elected to the Knesset for Yesh Atid and became minister of health. She ended the fluoridation of drinking water in Israel, a decision that drew public criticism and was reversed by a later minister. She left the government in 2014 with the other Yesh Atid ministers.

She was reelected in 2015 and served with Blue and White from 2019. She left the Knesset in 2020 for health reasons. In 2021 she was appointed ambassador to France and resigned in 2022.