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Arab Businesswoman Runs for Israeli Presidency

Ilham Khazen.
Ilham Khazen.
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Arab Businesswoman Runs for Israeli Presidency

Ilham Khazen.
Ilham Khazen.

For the first time in the history of Israel, an Arab businesswoman announced her intention to run for the presidency to succeed the current Reuven Rivlin, whose term will end in July 2021.

Ilham Khazen, a resident of the Arab town of Ba'nah, in the Western Galilee region, said: "This door has been closed to the Arab community for a long time, and the time has come to open it so that Arab citizens of Israel participate in the highest levels of political action, decision-making positions and influence."

The Israeli president is elected by the 120-member Knesset (parliament) for a seven-year term. Every citizen who has reached the age of 24 is entitled to run for the position. Traditionally, politicians or scholars are chosen to head the state.

But this is the first time that an Arab citizen runs for the post.

Khazen's run will likely fail, particularly as she is running against ten other candidates. Some have speculated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may even run for the post if he fails in dismissing corruption charges against him.

Furthermore, her political platform contradicts the right wing, which boasts the majority in the Knesset.

Also, Khazen believes in peace and resolving conflict in the region through the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Khazen, 55, is a businesswoman and a mother of five children and grandmother to two grandchildren. She owns a group of pharmacies and a medical center in Sakhnin.

She started her political career in the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, then moved to the Israeli Labor Party. She ran for a seat in the Knesset, but failed to win.

She says that her nomination for the presidency was a message that Arabs in Israel are also part of Israel and have the right to participate in its leadership.

Khazen says that since her announcement, she has received many letters of support from Jews and Arabs.

“I will work to represent the entire population and to consolidate coexistence among them. Israel is a gathering of minorities, not just Jews and Arabs,” she said.

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Hamas Official Says Group Open to Freeing Hostages, Five-Year Truce in Gaza

08 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Fighter of the Ezzeddine al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas hand over Israeli Hostages Or Levy (R), Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in the fifth batch of the first phase of the ceasefire exchange deal. (dpa)
08 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Fighter of the Ezzeddine al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas hand over Israeli Hostages Or Levy (R), Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in the fifth batch of the first phase of the ceasefire exchange deal. (dpa)
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Hamas Official Says Group Open to Freeing Hostages, Five-Year Truce in Gaza

08 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Fighter of the Ezzeddine al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas hand over Israeli Hostages Or Levy (R), Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in the fifth batch of the first phase of the ceasefire exchange deal. (dpa)
08 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Fighter of the Ezzeddine al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas hand over Israeli Hostages Or Levy (R), Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in the fifth batch of the first phase of the ceasefire exchange deal. (dpa)

Hamas is open to an agreement to end the Gaza war that would include the one-time release of all remaining hostages and a five-year cessation of hostilities, an official from the Palestinian group said Saturday.

"Hamas is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, as a delegation from his group was set to meet mediators in Cairo later in the day.

On April 17, Hamas, which opposes a "partial" ceasefire agreement, rejected an Israeli proposal that included a 45-day truce in exchange for the return of 10 living hostages.

The group has consistently demanded that a truce agreement must lead to the end of the war, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a prisoner exchange, and the immediate and sufficient entry of humanitarian aid into the war-battered Palestinian territory.

Israel, for its part, demands the return of all hostages and the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza -- the latter being a "red line" for the movement.

The war was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures.

Of the 251 people taken hostage that day, 58 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 who are dead, according to the Israeli army.

A truce from January 19 to March 17 allowed the return of 33 hostages to Israel, including eight who were deceased, in exchange for the release of about 1,800 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

According to figures published by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, at least 2,062 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli offensive resumed on March 18, bringing the total death toll in Gaza to 51,439 since the start of the war.