Nira Shpak

A member of the Kfar Aza kibbutz,^[2] Shpak was a career soldier. She was the first woman to reach the rank of brigade commander and commander of an operational sector,^[2] and was the first woman to lead the training section of the Israeli Ground Forces.^[3] After being discharged with the rank of brigadier general, she worked at the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Home Front Defense.^[3]

Entering politics, she ran for head of the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council in the 2018 local elections.^[4] Prior to the 2021 Knesset elections she was placed seventeenth on the Yesh Atid list,^[5] and was elected to the Knesset as the party won seventeen seats. In May 2022 she was a recipient of the Knights of the Quality of Government award by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel.^[6] However, she did not contest the November 2022 elections, choosing to return to local politics.^[7]