Leftist MK Merav Michaeli and partner Lior Schleien, a TV host, on Wednesday morning announced the birth of their third child. In a social media post, Michaeli wrote, "Meet her: Noa, sister to Uri and Alon. Someone to speak to in the feminine, and another really good reason to fight for the State, which is now hers as well." Uri, their oldest son, was born in August 2021 , and Alon, their second son, was born in April 2023. Both were born via surrogacy, through a surrogate in the US. Following the birth of Uri, Michaeli wrote, "This was a journey with a lot of trials." Though most commenters offered congratulations and heartfelt good wishes, some commenters were critical. One commenter, Lior, wrote: "As a father of a little girl who was born through surrogacy, I have met quite a few women (future mothers) who were with me in that same journey and felt so incredibly hurt by your harsh statements!!! To see you now, for the third time using that same process borders on infuriating - how much pain have you caused people, and especially women!!! You need to do soul-searching, but regardless, congratulations, may you raise them happily!" Another commenter, Rachelli, asked, "Did you just assume her gender?" Commenter Nissan wrote, "Again you trafficked a women's womb and children?! What about the female Border Police officer who was sexually harassed in front of the entire State of Israel? We haven't yet heard you condemn or even discuss that [incident]. But I do understand you. You conduct a selektzia between what is comfortable for you and what isn't, just like that person who cooperated with those [and chose] who would get on the trains and who wouldn't. Regardless, you're the granddaughter of...." Related articles: Israeli politicians thank Biden for his support for Israel Former MK Yael Dayan dies at 85 Labor Party leader holds secret meeting with PM’s wife Argentine President thanks Israel for hostage rescue Michaeli's grandfather, Rudolf Israel Kastner, helped a group of Jews escape from occupied Europe during the Holocaust on the "Kastner train." Following the war, he was accused of filing to inform the majority of Hungarian Jews about what awaited them in Auschwitz. In 1955, an Israeli judge ruled that Kasztner had sacrificed the mass of Jewry for a chosen few, the judge said. That ruling was later overturned by the Supreme Court. Previously, Michaeli was a vocal opponent of surrogacy. In a 2013 interview with Mako , she called surrogacy "a kind of trafficking in the body of women that is…not acceptable to me." She stated, "The way people who have no ability to have children turn to a woman who needs to go through hormonal treatments, pregnancy and childbirth with all that that entails and then hand over the child - how do you say it? It does not seem so reasonable to me." She explained that for women who need money, "the element of choice here is a bit dubious." She also said that "for whoever can't give birth but really wants children, the logical thing to do is to adopt and not go to a surrogate." Michaeli, who has also claimed - falsely - that the nuclear family is the "least safe" place for children to grow up, has never retracted her statements.
