Nine years ago, Orna Barbivai made history when she became the Israeli military's first – and so far only – female officer to hold the rank of major general. Then-IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz gave her command of the IDF's Personnel Directorate, a sensitive post that required a delicate balancing act between many moving parts.
In January 2019, she announced her intention to enter politics and joined Yesh Atid. When the party joined forces with Gantz's Israel Resilience party to form Blue and White, she was slated 10th on its roster.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Barbivai had opposed Gantz's decision to join Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government following the March elections, something that was in breach of one of Blue and White's main campaign promises. The fact that he chose to do so, she told Israel Hayom, hurt his electoral base.
"I was upset by that move. I'm sure he did it thinking it was the best possible move, but I've always thought this was a unity government born in sin; that chances of this becoming a functional government are slim. And it was, of course, a significant violation of our campaign promise."
Q: Do you believe Likud and Blue and White share equal responsibility with respect to how the unity government has been functioning or is Netanyahu solely to blame?
"Blue and white is also responsible for this situation. This is one government with two heads, which fails to produce any kind of effective decision-making process."
The coronavirus crisis and the recession it triggered "mean that now of all times; when we need to have a small and highly efficient government – an effective government that knows how to make decisions - we are saddled with an inflated government that doesn't know how to do that.
"The damage to the public's confidence [in the government] is one of the most severe we have even known," she said.
Q: Where do you think the government failed in managing the coronavirus crisis?
"The most serious thing is the lacking decision-making process and the fact that the public has become somewhat invisible. Who focuses on annexation in Judea and Samaria or on commissions of inquiry against incumbent judges in the middle of the battle against the corona pandemic? Is there anyone who thinks that makes sense?
"I have no doubt that Netanyahu's policies on how to handle the corona crisis are based on political interest and seek to distract [from his legal troubles]. The public has no faith in the leadership. Netanyahu has failed miserably and the public is paying the price."
Q: Do you think this government will live out its days?
"That depends on what suits Netanyahu. The tensions we are seeing between the coalition partners reflect the detachment form the public's needs. You can also see how the knives have been unsheathed in Likud.
"There are good people in the Likud and I'm convinced that they, too, find it difficult to operate under a prime minister that has three indictments pending against him. I'm surprised none of them has left."
Q: How would you rate the opposition's performance? It is functioning?
"The opposition comprises different parties and each one wants to retain its character. Yesh Atid puts up a fight against the government. Things have been turned on their head and we, as the opposition, look out for the public. The coalition is using the tyranny of the majority against the opposition's bills, which serve the public's interest."
Q: Do you think Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid has what it takes to become the prime minister?
"Yes, he does. In the year and a half that we have been working together, he has proven to me and to the other members of the faction that he is determined and that he can create an agenda and pursue it, and lead an excellent group of people. He has the skills to be an excellent prime minister.
"I have no doubt that, given the chance to lead, we would do so immeasurably better than the current government."
Q: You were recently named head of the Subcommittee for Personnel in the IDF under the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. This gives you the opportunity to scrutinized personnel issues in the military.
"Absolutely, the challenges the IDF faces in terms of personnel are vast. They include questions like how to keep the best people in the military, the ramification of cutting mandatory service short, how we make sure our reserves are always at the top of their game, and many more. The chief of staff also understands that one of the most important issues today is personnel."
Q: How is the IDF in 2020 different from the one you joined in 1981?
"Well, 30-40 years ago, over 80% of the disciplines in the military were off-limits for women. Today, the main obstacle holding back women who rank as captains and lieutenants colonel is that they are told that they haven't held a series of positions that are basically only open to men. The fact that I followed the same [military] path as men in similar positions made it possible for me to be promoted to head of the Personnel Directorate."
Q: Is it time for the IDF to open all roles to women?
"Of course. I think the primary mission the IDF must deal with is making all disciplines and positions open to women. I think that Chief of Staff [Lt. Get. Aviv Kochavi] should lead the initiative on that. Combat and operational units have roles that exclude women and there's no reason in the world not to change that."
Q: How many women evade conscription by declaring that they are religious, thus getting an exemption form service?
"Currently, 44% of women don't serve in the IDF, compared to 31% of the men. But public discourse only focuses on the men who don't join the IDF.
"The data clearly shows an increase in the number of women who declare they are religious to get an exemption from service. On the other hand, there is an increase in the number of national-religious women who do enlist and pursue a meaningful service in a variety of roles."
Q: Do you think we will see a woman named Israeli Air Force or Navy commander? Will we one day have a female chief of staff?
"We'll have a female IAF or navy commander before we'll have a female chief of staff for the simple reason that we already have female pilots in the air force and female battleship commanders in the navy.
"For a woman to become the IDF chief of staff she'll have to work her way up. Once we see that she could make it all the way to the chief of staff's office."
Q: Is politics a temporary post for you or do you plan on a long political career?
"I came to the Knesset to stay and make an impact. My fellow Yesh Atid MKs and are the last gatekeepers standing.
"I feel that I have a personal responsibility to be part of the group that safeguards the Knesset, whose position is being steadily eroded. Our role has never been as important and we need to be at the decision-making junctures and acts in the public's interest."
Barbivai, 57, was born in Ramla, in central Israel, and grew up in the northern town of Afula. Her father immigrated from Romania and her mother from Iraq. She is the eldest of six siblings, and once a week she visits her mother and the rest of the family in Afula.
"I grew up in the periphery, and when I visit Afula I can see up close the differences between central Israel and the periphery. There is no reason to perpetuate these gaps and I am fighting to reduce them. There is a lot to do in this area in terms of healthcare, education and caring for the elderly," she says.
When asked what made her not only pursue a military career but one in which she made history with her 2011 promotion to the rank of major general, Barbivai said, "When I enlisted in the IDF a whole new world opened up for me. I was the first one in my family to join the military. I've always loved interacting with people, so I gravitated toward the Personnel Directorate – I was really interested in the field of human resources.
"Ten months after enlisting I was an officer. I felt that the military gave me an unlimited opportunity to pursue something I'm good at and things took off from there.
"I didn't necessarily have a career path in mind – one promotion always followed another. I never aspired to get to the top but I did feel that I was given the opportunity to express my skills and that no one and nothing was holding me back.
"I always knew that if I focused on the mission at hand and execute it to the best of my ability, it will be enough to shine through."
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
