Yifat Shasha-Biton

Yifat Shasha-Biton was born in 1973 in Kiryat Shmona

Shasha-Biton was born in Kiryat Shmona in 1973. Her mother Rachel, a nurse, came from Morocco, and her father Moshe David, who owned a transportation company, came from Iraq. She attended the Danciger high school in Kiryat Shmona.

She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in education at the University of Haifa, and a doctorate in education there in 2002. Her dissertation compared how Jewish Israeli and Palestinian youth understand the concept of peace. In the IDF she served in the Northern Command.

She worked as a literature teacher and lecturer, and became Vice President of Ohalo College in Katzrin. In 2008 she ran for mayor of Kiryat Shmona and served as deputy mayor in charge of education. In 2013 she was elected to the city council.

She entered the Knesset with Kulanu in 2015 and chaired the Special Committee for the Rights of the Child. In 2019 she became Minister of Construction and Housing. In 2020 she chaired the Knesset coronavirus committee and later joined New Hope.

In 2021 she was appointed Minister of Education and decided not to grant the Israel Prize to Oded Goldreich. In 2023 she became a minister without portfolio and resigned in March 2024. In July 2024 she left the Knesset and retired from politics.