# Michal Cotler-Wunsh

Michal Cotler-Wunsh (Hebrew: מיכל קוטלר-וונש; born 18 December 1970) is an Israeli public figure, speaker, and independent policy advisor. She served as a member of the Knesset for the Blue and White alliance from 2020 to 2021 and is currently a special envoy for combating antisemitism for Israel.

## Early life and education

Cotler-Wunsh was born in Jerusalem; her mother Ariela Ze'evi was secretary of Gahal and Likud during Menachem Begin's leadership. When she was eight years old, her family moved to Montreal after her mother married Canadian lawyer, politician and human rights activist Irwin Cotler. After graduating high school, she enrolled for a gap year at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A year later she began her national service in the Israel Defense Forces, training new recruits. She returned to the Hebrew University to earn a law degree, after which she worked at the Ministry of Justice. After 13 years in Israel, Cotler-Wunsh moved back to Canada, where she earned a master's degree at McGill University and taught at the university.Her PhD research focused on freedom of speech on university campuses, tracking the effects of (attempted) regulation of speech. A decade after leaving Israel, she and her family returned.

## Career

Prior to becoming a Member of Knesset, Michal served as Director of International Relations at IDC Herzlia. She was a research fellow at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at IDC Herzliya, and a board member of several non profit organizations, including “Tzav Pius” – an NGO dedicated to connecting Israelis along the secular-religious spectrum. She previously served as a scholar-in-residence for the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA); Strategy & Policy advisor to Nefesh B'Nefesh; Director of International External Relations at the SheInterdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya; PhD candidate in the Human Rights under Pressure - Ethics, Law and Politics program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Freie Universität of Berlin.

### Political career

She was appointed to the group writing a manifesto for the new Telem party of Moshe Ya'alon, which was established in early 2019. After Telem joined the Blue and White alliance, she was placed forty-sixth on its list for the April 2019 elections, in which it won 35 seats. She was given the same spot for the September 2019 elections, again failing to win a seat. However, she was moved up to thirty-sixth for the March 2020 elections. Although the alliance won only 33 seats, she entered the Knesset on 19 June as a replacement for Alon Schuster, who had resigned his seat under the Norwegian Law after being appointed to the cabinet. Between the election and her entry to the Knesset, she remained in the splintered Blue and White alliance that formed a unity government and served as a member of Knesset. She announced on 29 December that she would be leaving the party.
During the 23rd Knesset, Cotler-Wunsh served as Chair of the Special Committee on Drug and Alcohol Use, Chair of the Subcommittee on Israel-Diaspora Relations, and as an active member of several prestigious committees including the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, and the Children's Rights, Women's Status, and Immigration and Integration Committees.
Additionally she was the first Knesset Liaison to the Issue of the International Criminal Court (ICC), was co-chair of the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Friendship Group, was a member of several inter parliamentary working groups, and Chair of the Caucus for Ethiopians in Israel.
Cotler-Wunsh co-founded the Interparliamentary Task Force to Combat Online Antisemitism, together with multi-partisan elected officials from Canada, Australia, the US, and the UK.

### Envoy for combating antisemitism

In September 2023, Cotler-Wunsh was appointed by the Foreign Ministry as Israel's antisemitism envoy.

## Community work

Cotler-Wunsh is a trustee in the Rabbi Sacks Legacy. She is a legal advisor to the Goldin family, dedicated to the return of deceased Israeli soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul and Israeli civilians Avera Mengistu and Hisham a Sayed, held captive for nine years in standing violation of international law and human rights.

## Author

Cotler-Wunsh has been published extensively on sites such as JNS, Newsweek, Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel and Politico.

## Personal life

Michal lives in Ra'anana, Israel, with her husband and their four children.