Itzik Shmuli

Yitzhak (Itzik) Shmuli was born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to Nechama and Chaim Shmuli, restaurant owners. His family is of Iraqi Jewish descent. At the age of 3, his family moved to Ramat Gan. Shmuli was conscripted to the Israel Defense Forces in 1998, and served as a tank commander in an operational company of the 7th Armored Brigade's 82nd Battalion.

In 2001, Shmuli established a restaurant and catering company with his father in Tel Aviv, where he worked for two years. At the age of 23, he moved to Argentina, and helped to establish a Buenos Aires orphanage whilst residing there. After returning to Israel, he attended Oranim Academic College, and graduated with a B.Ed. in Special Education and Social-Community Action. During his first year at Oranim, he was elected head of the Student Union. In that position, he led a campaign against the Shochat Committee, which sought to privatize higher education and raise tuition fees.

In the beginning of 2009, Shmuli was elected deputy chairman of the National Union of Israeli Students. In October 2010, he was elected chairman of the Student Union. In 2010, he began his studies towards a master's degree in public policy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Itzik Shmuli, 2015

Shmuli was one of the leaders of the 2011 Israeli social justice protests. In July 2015, following a stabbing incident at Jerusalem's gay pride parade, Shmuli wrote in an article to Yedioth Ahronoth that "when the knife is raised around the neck of an entire LGBT community, my community, it will not stop there";[3] in this article, he became the first Knesset Member who came out of the closet during his term.

In October 2012, Shmuli announced his intention to run in the Labor Party's primaries for the 19th Knesset.[4] Shmuli was placed in the party's 11th slot for the Knesset list. In the 19th Knesset, Shmuli served as a member of the Economic Affairs Committee.

In elections for the 20th Knesset, Shmuli was placed fifth on the list of the Zionist Union, after reaching third place in the Labor primaries, and was thus elected to the 20th Knesset.[5]

On 17 May 2020, Shmuli joined the Israeli Cabinet after being sworn in as Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services, also known as Minister of Welfare.[1]

In February 2021 he announced that he was resigning from the Knesset and ministerial roles to take a break from politics, stating that it had been a mistake to join the Netanyahu government.[6]

Shmuli was named "The Most Social Knesset Member in the Knesset" four times in a row. He won "The Outstanding Parliamentarian Award" from the Israel Democracy Institute.

• Itzik Shmuli on the Knesset website