Lapid adds young female leaders to party list

Legal clinics head Karin Alhrar, ‘University for the Nation’ founder Adi Kol to run on Yesh Atid party list.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid 370 (photo credit: Efrat Sa'ar)
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid 370
(photo credit: Efrat Sa'ar)
Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid announced on Wednesday Karin Alhrar and Adi Kol as the newest additions to the party’s Knesset candidates list.
Lapid spoke at a press conference at Sokolow House in Tel Aviv leading into the January 22 election.
Alhrar heads the legal clinics at Bar- Ilan University, while Kol is the founder and head of “University for the Nation.”
Alhrar’s legal clinics are notable for their work on behalf of the disabled, Yesh Atid said.
Kol’s organization is “an original and unique model, unique in the world” that helps disadvantaged and less-educated persons take introductory university courses throughout Israel, the party said.
At the press conference, Lapid welcomed Alhrar and Kol to the party, saying, “If you’re talking about people who can change the system, Karin and Adi are exactly the model of how to do things differently.”
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The Yesh Atid party leader described them as two young female leaders who “looked at the country and said to themselves: Instead of whining about the fact that things aren’t working, instead of blaming others, we are going to rise up and do something about it.”
He added that his party’s mission of changing the system could best be realized by taking in leaders on the rise and utilizing the vision and leadership of people like Alhrar and Kol.
Alhrar said at the press conference that her joining Yesh Atid was the result of “familiarity with the weaker sectors of Israeli society” and their daily struggles.
She added that as director of the legal clinics and working with the downtrodden of society, she deals with “thousands of cases a year,” helping them fight for their “fundamental rights.”
Kol said that she did not want to “stand around and watch my country, my home, become divided, polarized, cynical and desperate.”
She added that she wanted to live in a country where young, talented people would want to join in public service and not where public servants were derided and in disgrace, as she characterized the current state of affairs.
Both new Knesset candidates expressed their belief that Yesh Atid could bring real and historic change to society.
Lapid started rolling out some of his top names for the party’s list shortly after the recent Knesset decision to go to an early election.
On Monday, Lapid announced that Herzliya’s mayor, Yael German, and Dimona’s mayor, Meir Cohen had joined the party and its Knesset candidates.