Yifat Ovadia has a long record of social and human rights activism in Israel. She cofounded the Justice Haim Cohen Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights and served as a member of The Administration of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel from 2007 until 2010. For many years, Yifat has provided free legal services to a number of social organisations and has served as a member of the administrative board of Tebeka – Justice and Rights for Ethiopians. In 2006, Yifat and Adva Hadar founded Olim Beyahad, which encourages leadership among Ethiopian Israeli University graduates, and she continues to serve as its Executive Director.
Our Voice of the Fortnight is from the Times of Israel's 'Wartime Diaries' podcast. In the immediate aftermath of October 7th, Shai Davidai – an Assistant Professor at Columbia University – became an unlikely public defender of Israel. And truthfully, even he was surprised by this turn of events: As a committed left-wing Israeli, he had spent years criticizing the government, and often took to the streets to demonstrate against its policies. But the atmosphere he witnessed on college campuses (and specifically on his own campus at Columbia), compelled him to speak up and speak out.