Israel Hayom publisher Dr. Miriam Adelson and her daughter Yasmin Lukatz held a one-on-one panel on Wednesday as part of the Israel Hayom gala event "Their Stage," in honor of International Women's Day.
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Their brief discussion focused on the influential women in Dr. Adelson's life, about breaking through barriers, and the desire to continue pushing women to break through in many fields.
Lukatz: "When I'm asked who serves as a role model for me, my answer is always: you, my daughter Shira and my bestie Racheli. Who serves as a role model for you?"
Adelson: "My mother, who only finished high school in Poland, came from a Hassidic family. She decided to travel to Israel, even though their Rebbe said to them 'God is everywhere – you don't need to leave.' My mother came to Israel alone, and it turned out that her entire family had been murdered in Europe. She was left alone in the world, with all that pain. And with all that, my mother held herself up and built a strong family.
"My father was also a wonderful man. I had a happy and good life with them, and I learned so much from my mother. I admired her – with all the pain of losing her family, she came to this foreign land at age 18 without knowing the language and knew how to stand on her feet. Yasmin, you learned a lot from your mother, but it also came from my mother.
"Who I admired from afar was Eleanor Roosevelt (the former First Lady of the US). Your middle name, Yasmin, is Eleanor – because of Eleanor Roosevelt. She understood that there were hardly any female journalists, so she held a press conference and said 'only female journalists are allowed' – and that's how she brought women into journalism."
Lukatz: "There are female tank operators, and women entrepreneurs that I work with, but when I look up the air is thin. There are significant figures, but there aren't enough strong women in key positions. What prevents this, and what can be done to change the situation?"
Adelson: "Many women prefer a domestic career. There are women who even get a PhD and then go back home to raise the children. Many women in our country have advanced in general politics. It's still not enough, we have many more battles to fight.
"The current war showed the brave men that they need to really listen to the female field observers. In not listening to them, there is a lack of consideration for the female opinion or their role. We learned a lot during this period about how women can do everything. A female officer was appointed as an Israeli Air Force base commander – it's simply amazing. We can do anything.
"I hope the awareness of this will grow. When you see a woman who wants to go into public roles – you need to help her and push her, and not put obstacles in her way. The men don't always accept us as equals. But in the next Knesset, there will be many more women."
Lukatz: "How did you experience the changing attitude towards you as a woman throughout your professional career? What was it like before compared to now?"
Adelson: "In my childhood, my parents treated me as equal to my brothers. I grew up with equality at home, and they always encouraged me to continue studying. Even in academia and the army, I didn't feel discrimination, and in medical school, I was pregnant with you. We were few girls in medical school, 15% - and now there's over 50%. After that I went to the US, and we were all equals.
"As women, we still have a lot of work to do. There is discrimination against women, especially in Muslim countries, and we need to fight for them."
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