Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli and her partner, comedian Lior Schleien, will return to Israel after Tuesday’s Simhat Torah holiday, following six weeks in the United States, where their son, Uri, was delivered by a surrogate mother.
Michaeli remained in the US to take care of the boy while the Knesset was in recess. She participated in meetings virtually.
“We are so happy to have him and to be his parents,” Michaeli wrote on Facebook. “This is a love story. Now it is a love story of three.”
Michaeli has revealed that the mother of the child is named Kelsey, and said she wanted to help a couple who could not have children. But no other details have been revealed about the circumstances of the birth, and where the family has been living since Uri was born on August 21.
Sources close to Michaeli said they were not aware of whether she would attend Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s address to the United Nations General Assembly or fly back on the prime minister’s flight.
Michaeli has issued statements from the US urging Israelis to work on becoming better people.
“If each one of us does not look to find a scapegoat but, rather, reflects for themselves; if each one of us just takes steps to fix themselves, we will be in such a better place,” Michaeli said.