Ksenia Svetlova
Ksenia Svetlova (Hebrew: קסניה סבטלובה; Russian: Ксения Игоревна Светлова, born 28 July 1977) is an Israeli politician, journalist, associate professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and policy fellow at the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies. She served as a member of the Knesset for the Zionist Union.
Ksenia Svetlova
Personal life[edit]
Svetlova was born in Moscow. In 1991, at age 14, she immigrated to Israel with her mother. Her mother said that the only country they could immigrate to was Israel, stating: "If we must leave our beloved city, our native Moscow, then we can only leave it for home."[1]
In Israel, Svetlova attended Tzvia school for girls Jerusalem. She later studied Islamic and Middle Eastern history at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, earning Bachelor's and Master's degrees. As of 2015, she is a doctoral candidate in Middle Eastern studies at Bar-Ilan University.[2][3] She is also a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.[3][4]
Svetlova had both Russian and Israeli citizenship. As a result of her Russian citizenship, while she was a journalist, she was able to travel extensively in the Arab world. However, in 2015, she renounced her Russian passport as a requirement for entering the Knesset, which she described as a career sacrifice. She speaks Russian, Hebrew, English, and Arabic. She lives in Modi'in with her husband Anatoly Aliev and has three daughters.[2][5][6]
Journalism career[edit]
In 2002, Svetlova joined the Russian language "Israel Plus" channel as a commentator on Arab affairs. She has written for newspapers and media outlets, including the Jerusalem Post, the Jerusalem Report, Haaretz and the BBC Russian Service. In her capacity as a journalist, she has interviewed Yasser Arafat, Ahmed Yassin, and Mahmoud Abbas.
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