Labor MK Shaffir releases perhaps Israel's only English campaign video

Stav Shaffir, the youngest woman elected to the Knesset, released the video on Thursday in which the head of the American Federation of Teachers sings her praises

FEBRUARY 10, 2019 11:50

Updated: FEBRUARY 10, 2019 12:22

Stav Shaffir (photo credit: NIR ARIELI) — Stav Shaffir

(photo credit: NIR ARIELI)

Activist and Knesset member Stav Shaffir (Labor) released what is believed to be the only campaign video in English during the current Israeli campaign season ahead of the April 9 elections.

While many Knesset members have released campaign videos, Shaffir appears to be the only candidate trying to appeal to the 250,000 English speaking immigrants of voting age.

Shaffir, the youngest woman ever elected to the Knesset, released the video on Thursday. It is mostly narrated by the head of the American Federation of Teachers, who sang Shaffir's praise.

Kol hakavod to @StavShaffir for putting out what I think is the only campaign ad in English ahead of Monday's Labor primary. Worth watching: https://t.co/KGTXhxUGl4
— Gil Hoffman (@Gil_Hoffman) February 10, 2019

"She brings with her a passion, not just for progressive Zionism, but for what that represents, a shared society, peace, security for all," American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten says in the video. "A fight against racial bigotry, a fight against economic inequality, and a fight for the kind of Israel, that all of us have always looked up to."

Weingarten, who is Jewish, praised Shaffir and even invited her to speak at one of the labor union's events.

"Disrespect, marginalization, sexism, toward your fellow citizens, is the opposite of loving your country," Shaffir says in the video during an AFT event in the US.

Weingarten ends the video by telling Israelis, "All Israelis should be grateful for the kind of vision she [Shaffir] brings and the advocacy she does of how Israel can be the secure, just place for all."

Shaffir is most noted for her activism. “I was an activist from the moment I remember myself,” she told The Jerusalem Post in in a 2018 interview.

Shaffir led a highly publicized reform on budgetary transparency in the Special Committee for the Transparency and Accessibility of Government Information that she chaired, successfully exposing and blocking the massive use of government funds for political purposes.

The AFT represents 1.7 million teachers, nurses and public employees across the United States, according to Weingarten, who has headed the second largest teachers' union since 2008. Weingarten previously headed the United Federation of Teachers, which represents most of the teachers in New York City. Since 2007, she has also spoken publicly about being a lesbian, according to The New York Times.