Galit Distel-Atbaryan

Galit Distel-Atbaryan
Galit Distel-Atbaryan
	Distel-Atbaryan in 2023
Ministerial roles
2022–2023	Minister of Information
Faction represented in the Knesset
2021–2023	Likud
2023–	Likud
Personal details
Born	10 January 1971 (age 53); Jerusalem, Israel

Galit Distel-Atbaryan (Hebrew: גַּלִּית דִּיסְטֶל־אַטְבַּרְיָאן, born 10 January 1971)^[1] is an Israeli writer and politician currently serving as a member of the Knesset for Likud and was formerly the Minister of Information.

Biography

Distel-Atbaryan was born in Jerusalem to Iranian Jewish immigrants and served in the Israeli Air Force. She studied for MA in Philosophy from Hebrew University and had a clothing store named "My Sister" in the Modi'in-Shilat industrial zone.^[2]^[3]

She lives in the settlement of Kfar HaOranim and has two children.^[3]

Literary career

Distel-Atbaryan published her first novel, And If They Told You, in 2009 and her second, Peacock in the Stairwell, in 2014,^[4] for which she was nominated for the 2015 Sapir Prize.^[5]

She subsequently became a right-wing political commentator,^[3] known for her forthright and controversial views and support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.^[4]

Political career

Distel-Atbaryan was selected by Netanyahu for the tenth place on the Likud list for the 2021 elections,^[4]^[6] and was elected to the Knesset as Likud won thirty seats.^[7] Ahead of the 2022 elections, she was given the twentieth spot.^[8]

She resigned from her post as Information Minister of Israel on 12 October 2023.^[9]

She strongly criticized Netanyahu in a private WhatsApp conversation, which was released on 16 November 2023.^[10]

Controversy

In August 2021, Distel-Atbaryan shared a video on Twitter that falsely suggested United States president Joe Biden fell asleep during a meeting with Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennet, resulting in her tweet being flagged with a Twitter warning of "manipulated media".^[11]

In May 2022, she claimed in an interview that "there is no such thing as autism", and shared how she "treated" her autistic son by refusing him food and water until he talked. The comments caused a stir and led to criticism from autistic people and their families.^[12]^[13]

During the 2023 Israeli anti-judicial reform protests, after reservists from the 69 "Hammers" Squadron boycotted a training operation to protest the proposed judicial changes, Distel-Atbaryan wrote on Twitter that "[p]ilots who condition the security of the citizens on the results of the elections are narcissistic. I'm not interested in what they did for the country",^[14] adding that they are "not patriots. Not the salt of the earth. Not Zionists. Not the best of our guys. Not wonderful people. Not the people of Israel."^[15]

In March 2023 she claimed that the left relies on foreign funding for its political activities and claimed that funding from foreign nations and actors, including Germany and Iran, was being used to finance protests in Israel. Germany's ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, took issue with Distel-Atbaryan's decision to associate Germany with Iran, a country that openly threatens to annihilate Israel.^[16]

After the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, Distal-Atbaryan posted on-line: “Erase Gaza from the face of the earth. Let the Gazan monsters rush to the southern border and flee into Egypt, or die. And let them die badly. Gaza should be wiped off the map, and fire and brimstone on the heads of the Nazis in Judea and Samaria. Jewish wrath to shake the earth around the world. We need a cruel, vengeful IDF here. Anything less is immoral.” The social media platform formerly called Twitter removed her message.^[17]

On 12 October, significant public criticism arose regarding the performance of the Public Diplomacy ministry in carrying out its duties. Distal-Atbaryan announced her resignation from the government and her return to the Knesset. A few days later, the government decided to close the ministry and transfer its budget to the Western Negev settlements rehabilitation directorate.^[18]^[19]