Place of birth Haifa, Israel 2013–2015 The Jewish Home | Name Shuli Mualem Role Israeli Politician | |
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Date of birth (1965-02-08) 8 February 1965 (age 50) Knessets Israeli legislative election, 2013, Israeli legislative election, 2015 Similar People Avi Wortzman, Orit Strook, Moti Yogev, Bezalel Smotrich | ||
Mk shuli mualem at the temple mount
Shulamit "Shuli" Mualem-Rafaeli (Hebrew: שולמית "שולי" מועלם-רפאלי, born 8 February 1965) is an Israeli nurse and politician. She served as a member of the Knesset for the Jewish Home between February 2013 and March 2015, and again since October 2015.
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Biography
Born in Haifa in 1965, Mualem was one of nine children. Her parents had immigrated from Morocco two months before her birth. She grew up in the Neve David neighbourhood, and was a member of the religious-Zionist youth organization Bnei Akiva. During her national service, she worked as a teacher.
After her national service, she attended the Shaare Zedek nursing school, gaining a bachelor's degree, before taking a master's degree course in industrial engineering at the Technion. She worked as a nurse at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, becoming the hospital's Director of Risk Management. She also lectured at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
In 1997, her husband Moshe was one of 73 people killed in a helicopter disaster. After his death, she served as Deputy and Acting Chairman of the IDF Widows and Orphans organisation. She also wrote several posthumous letters to her husband, which were published in a book, "My beloved Mualem", which was published in 2001. Having re-married, she was involved in fighting for IDF widows to continue to receive their pensions after re-marrying.
Prior to the 2009 Knesset elections, Mualem won fourth place on the Jewish Home list. However, she later withdrew from the final list. She was placed twelfth on the party's list for the 2013 elections, and was elected to the Knesset, as the party won 12 seats. She was placed ninth on the party's list for the 2015 elections, losing her seat, as the party was reduced to eight seats. However, she returned to the Knesset in October 2015, when party leader Naftali Bennett resigned his seat under the Norwegian Law in order to allow Mualem to become an MK again.
She is Orthodox Jewish, married, and has 7 children.