Role Israeli Politician Name Faina Kirschenbaum | 2009–2015 Yisrael Beiteinu Year of aliyah 1973 Party Yisrael Beiteinu | |
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Date of birth (1955-11-27) 27 November 1955 (age 60) Knessets Israeli legislative election, 2009, Israeli legislative election, 2013 | ||
Place of birth Lviv, Soviet Union | ||
Faina Kirschenbaum (Hebrew: פאינה קירשנבאום, born 27 November 1955) is an Israeli politician. She served as a member of the Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu between 2009 and 2015.
Life and career
Born in Lviv in the Soviet Union (today in Ukraine), Kirschenbaum made aliyah to Israel on 31 December 1973. She trained as a nurse at the Beilison School of Nursing, as well as gaining a BA in general studies from Thames Valley University, an MBA from the University of Derby, a certificate in director's training at Bar-Ilan University.
In 1981 she moved to the Israeli settlement of Nili in the West Bank. She served as its council secretary, and was a member of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. She has also served as deputy chairwoman of the Israeli branch of the World Jewish Congress, and as a member of the board of directors of the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora.
The party's director general, prior to the 2009 elections she was placed tenth on the Yisrael Beiteinu list, and entered the Knesset as the party won 15 seats. Together with Likud MK Danny Danon she proposed the controversial law to set up two parliamentary panels of inquiry into left-wing human rights and anti-occupation Israeli NGOs. After several month long discussion in Knesset and Israeli press, the law, opposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Tzipi Livni, was voted against by Knesset.
She was re-elected in 2013, and joined the new government as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs on 18 March 2013. Kirschenbaum retired from politics in January 2015 after a police investigation into corruption.
Kirschenbaum is married with three children.