Transportation minister reveals why she broke with official recommendation and traveled to US
Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli came under heavy criticism for traveling to the United States this weekend despite an official government recommendation for Israelis to avoid travel to countries with high COVID infections.
The Friday night shows excoriated the minister for taking the personal trip especially because she would also have to quarantine upon return.
Nevertheless, Michaeli forged ahead with her plans – and with good reason: She announced on Facebook tonight that she was there for the birth of her and her partner's new child.
"The first time Lior (Schleien ) told me let's have a kid, I was sure it was a joke. After all, he's a satirist," she wrote in announcing the birth of their son, Uri, in the United States.
Michaeli, 54 – a long-time politician and well known feminist – has long expressed her intention to not have children. But over the years, she revealed in her post, she realized how much she wanted a baby.
After fertility treatments, the couple found a surrogate mother in the U.S.
"[Having a child] does not change anything about what I believe regarding the inequality that makes motherhood a burden for women," she wrote. "It does not change my view that you can be a complete woman without being a mother."
"He's mine and Lior's boy. We are so happy with him, and happy to be his parents. It's a love story. Now it's a love story of three."
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
