Ifat Ovadia-Luski

Origins and early life

Ifat Ovadia-Luski was born in Bat Yam on 3 June 1976 and spent much of her childhood in the Ben Shemen forest; she studied at the ORT Ramat Yosef high school and served in the Education Corps in Jerusalem. She was raised on the values of the Betar movement and of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, and the Jerusalem Post wrote in 2023 that throughout her career she has shown an unwavering commitment to the Jewish community and to Israel.

Work and career

She holds a bachelor's degree in Hebrew literature and history from the Hebrew University and a master's degree with honours in administration and education policy from Tel Aviv University. From 2013 to 2015 she was chief of staff at the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Science and Technology, where a project called Breaking the Glass Ceiling encouraged girls to become scientists. In 2016 she became the first woman to serve as chief executive of World Likud, and after the Zionist Congress of 2020 she headed the World Zionist Organization's Department for Hebrew Language and Culture.

On 6 December 2022 the board of Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael elected her chairwoman, making her the first woman to head one of the national institutions founded by the Zionist movement in their 125 years. In May 2023 she concluded an agreement with the Ministry of Finance under which the fund committed six billion shekels over five years to national projects, from new communities in the Negev and the Galilee to forests and immigrant absorption.

After 7 October 2023 the fund sent emergency money to border councils and moved the residents of Kibbutz Kfar Aza to temporary homes at Kibbutz Ruhama, and under her lead it renewed cooperation with JNF-USA after more than two decades apart. She created the Heroines' Path at Ofakim Park to honour the women of that day, had trees planted in memory of those murdered at the Nova festival, and completed her term on 31 December 2025.