Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak alumni plant trees on the occasion of Tu Beshvat/Yinir Yagna
Like the entire country, the October 7 attack caught Hadas Danieli Yelin by surprise.
She was looking forward to a pastoral Shabbat morning with her partner and three daughters in their home in Kibbutz Yegor, but her cell phone started going crazy with a flood of messages.
Kibbutzniks are a special breed, a kind of huge family whose members have a branched network of connections.
It is hard to find a kibbutznik who does not have a personal connection to the disaster,
and indeed the bad news reached Danieli Yelin already that terrible morning.
The head of the Shaar HaNegev Regional Council, the late Ofir Liebstein, was a close friend with whom she cooperated for many years. His death was the first to be published, after he went out to defend Kibbutz Kfar Gaza as part of the emergency squad. Later, other names of other friends and acquaintances, who were murdered, began to arrive. , were hurt or kidnapped.
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Hades Danieli Yelin from a tour near the fence in Kibbutz Eyal/courtesy of those photographed, Or Doga
Danieli Yelin, former CEO of the kibbutz movement, hurried to join the volunteer headquarters established by the movement. When the official bodies were still frozen in shock, she found herself navigating the chaos, assisting in the evacuation process for members of the kibbutzim that were attacked, taking care of equipment and donations. The strong feeling, which gripped all of us, that something was necessary here Change overwhelmed her as well.
"I was shocked like everyone else, but I quickly realized that these atrocities did not come in a vacuum," she tells Sheee. "The country was at its greatest point of weakness and Hamas used the opportunity to hurt us in the worst way.
But there is a leadership here that brought us to this situation.
Divided and divided us from each other.
It's not just the coup d'état.
It should be remembered that for years they have been inciting and spreading lies against the kibbutzim in particular, and neglecting the surrounding settlements in general in all respects.
After getting over the initial shock, she decided to run for the leadership of the kibbutz movement.
"I felt that this body has tremendous abilities that are not being used, and the gathering inward following the incitement and the crisis we went through, made us give up this body and its abilities to influence what happens around us"
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Hades Danieli Yelin in the Beit circle at Kibbutz Nir Eliyahu/courtesy of those photographed, Ariel Katzir
Is that what will make the difference?
With all due respect, the kibbutz movement is not exactly an influential body.
"That's exactly the problem. The stronger the incitement worked, the more the kibbutzim retreated, gathered on their own. Our values remained within the kibbutz fences and outside the motto of power-money-honor reigns. Since the establishment of the state, the kibbutzim have been a driving and influential force. We settled the borders. We plowed the land and built a blue-and-white agriculture that the whole world learns from. Our values of Zionism, democracy, equality and mutual guarantee have shaped Israeli society. I intend to return the kibbutz movement to positions of leadership and influence. The days when we put our heads down are over."
In the last three months, Danieli Yelin plows the whole country, meeting thousands of friends and members of kibbutzim from Eilat to the Golan Heights.
"This is an entire community that has gone through a very severe trauma," she says.
"In the southern kibbutzim in particular, but also tens of thousands of the kibbutzim in the north have evacuated their homes and have been living for months on suitcases, without income or frameworks and they have no idea when it will end. The state has abandoned the citizens, and now it's our turn to repair and rebuild. That's why I'm running."
Hades Danieli Yelin/courtesy of the photographers, Oral Cohen
How did the environment receive your nomination?
"Those who know me were not really surprised. I have been holding public positions in kibbutzim and in the movement for more than 20 years. I have always seen the movement as home and I have an obligation to contribute to it. I am flooded with many messages of support, but to be honest - there are also those who do not really like It's what I'm dealing with."
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"There is a group like this that for years arranges jobs for one another in all kinds of kibbutz institutions. They really want to continue this tradition, and I'm probably disturbing them. When I announced my candidacy, all kinds of publications started to appear with things that had nothing to do with reality. I was exposed The campaign is full of blackmail and they even called my supporters 'a bunch of bra-ripping cheerleaders.'"
And that you are a woman?
"The fact is that there was never a woman at the head of the kibbutz movement after its unification, even though she advocates gender equality. It's a very, very masculine club. I was almost always the only woman in the room together with 30 men. It's not an easy situation, but it only gives me motivation. I was the first to open the school for future CEOs in kibbutzim, together with Hana Redo and Miriam Druk, and I was also CEO of the women's lobby.
I know all the glass ceilings, and after I am elected I will make sure that there is equal representation in all economic and public bodies."
During the election campaign, Danieli Yelin received a warm hug from the leaders of the social protest - and especially from the leadership. At her conferences, you can meet prominent women such as Shakma Bresler, founder of "Alternative Builders" Moran Zer Katzenstein, and the independent journalist Or-Lee Barlev. There is no doubt that the female force stood behind her. "It is very important for me to say that being a woman cannot be the only reason to choose you," she adds. "I bring with me decades of managerial and executive experience and a deep familiarity with Lots of kibbutzim and all the institutions.
I do think that women bring a different voice with them, and that diversity is always important.
It cannot be that the voice of 51% of the population will not be heard."
More on the same topic:
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Kibbutz Movement