The ‘Magazine’ sits down with the first woman to become secretary-general of the Knesset.
By STEPHANIE GRANOTYardena Meller-Horovitz at the Knesset.(photo credit: Courtesy)
Yardena Meller-Horovitz lives in Jerusalem with her 24-year-old daughter Noa, a communications student. She is a fifth-generation Israeli and has worked in the Knesset for 38 years.Just back from addressing the UN Commission on the Status of Women, Meller-Horovitz is already hard at work preparing for the opening session of the 20th Knesset on March 31.We caught up with her to hear what it’s like to be Israel’s first woman appointed Knesset secretary-general.How were you notified of your appointment?Very appropriate to this week, I was notified of my appointment on International Women’s Day [March 8] in 2010, in a phone call from Reuven Rivlin, who was Knesset Speaker at the time. I had been the deputy secretary- general at that point, since 2004.What are the responsibilities of the Knesset secretary-general? I set the agenda for the Knesset, allocating time and time slots based upon the nature of the discussions requested by party members, and according to the rules of procedure pertaining to that type of discussion. For example, a personal discussion is allotted three minutes; party discussions are allotted time proportionally, depending on how many seats a party has in Knesset.What are the challenges of your job? It can be challenging to have a neutral job in a political organization. I focus on my responsibility to guard every party’s right to be heard, particularly the small parties, so everyone gets their legal and fair chance to speak.How has CSW59 impacted your thinking?Any ideas you are bringing back to Israel? This has been a very enlightening week and I’ve been exposed to many interesting ideas. One I will take back with me is the necessity of educating our boys from a very young age on gender equality, in every aspect of life.
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