The headlines this week were filled with war, diplomacy, and the UK Supreme Court’s ruling that women are legally defined as such on the basis of biology alone. But amid these reports, a quieter announcement emerged: Merav Michaeli and Lior Schleien have welcomed their third child, a daughter named Noa.
Michaeli, an Israeli politician, journalist, and lifelong feminist, has always been a figure who simultaneously challenged, provoked and inspired. A former television and radio host, she rose to national prominence first as a sharp-tongued commentator and then as the Labor Party’s leader and the Transport and Road Safety minister.
But she was never just another politician in a dark suit. She was, and still remains, a cultural symbol of a certain brand of progressive, secular, feminist Israel. For instance, Michaeli always wears black without exception. In addition, as opposed to English, in Hebrew, there are many differences between speaking in the feminine and the masculine. Michaeli always made it a point to add feminine language into her texts – something that became her trademark.
Schleien, her partner, is a household name in his own right: A satirist and television host best known for his show, The State of the Nation. The two, who have chosen not to marry as part of their ideological stance against the religious control of marriage in Israel, are one of the country’s most recognizable power couples.
Now, with the birth of their third child via surrogacy in the United States, they are also a symbol of something more: The evolution of ideals in the face of life.
To understand how significant this moment is, one has to first remember what happened in the past. In 2013, in her first year in the Knesset, Michaeli said in a radio interview, “Surrogacy is a very problematic practice. It is a form of trading in women’s bodies.”
She continued: “Women who carry children for others often do so out of economic distress. That raises deep ethical questions about consent and exploitation.”
Michaeli did not stop there. In 2017, speaking on an Australian talk show, she said, “The nuclear family is the most dangerous place for children.”
This view, which suggests that the traditional model of parenting that is rooted in biology and patriarchy needs to be dismantled, was radical – even for some feminists.
And yet, life happens.
Somewhere along the way, Schleien told her that he wanted to have a child. Michaeli’s response, as she later recounted, was, “I thought he was joking. I’m the feminist politician who says she’s not having kids – he must be trying to make a point.”
But he was not, and she reconsidered, not because she abandoned her values but because love complicates ideology.
“After trying to get pregnant and failing, we turned to surrogacy. Yes, the same surrogacy I had criticized,” Michaeli wrote in 2021, after the birth of their first son, Uri.
“This does not change what I believe about the inequality of motherhood or the fact that a woman is whole even without children. But it does mean I chose to walk this path – with love.”
She did not deny this contradiction; she embraced it.
This week, that contradiction became richer. A third child was born – their daughter. And still, Michaeli did not retreat from her stated principles. She still supports civil marriage. She still questions the commodification of women’s bodies. She still insists, as she said once, that “feminism is not about being nice – it’s about being just.”
But Michaeli is living proof that progressivism, if it is worth anything, must allow for personal growth, complexity, and even contradictions. And not just in Israel.
For instance, the UK’s Supreme Court ruled in a landmark ruling this week that under the Equality Act, “woman” means “biological woman.”
Transgender activists, many of whom saw gender identity as self-defined, were stunned. But others, like some feminist groups who had long warned against erasing sex-based rights, felt vindicated.
The court, trying to walk a tightrope, insisted that it was not taking sides. “This is not a triumph for one group over another,” the court’s Deputy President, Lord Hodge, said.
However, of course it is. This ruling is a reflection of a world turning more cautious, more conservative – not necessarily in its values, but in its priorities. The pendulum has begun swinging back – away from radicalism, not just in the UK but in the US and Israel, too.
There are reasons for this. In times of uncertainty – economic, military, or cultural – people often seek stability. That means fewer experiments in identity politics and more appeals to tradition.
In Israel, the war has pulled even many Centrists to the Right. In the US, President Donald Trump’s return to the White House is already reshaping the cultural conversation. Suddenly, things that felt settled are being reopened, even among progressives.
And yet, maybe this is where Michaeli’s story matters most. Because hers is not the story of a politician abandoning her beliefs; it’s the story of someone who refused to choose between love and conviction. She is someone who said yes to motherhood without saying no to feminism.
In Israel, where being a progressive today often means being dismissed as naïve, disconnected, or worse, Michaeli’s story offers a counterpoint. It says: You can evolve; you can contradict yourself; you can be a mother and still believe the system is broken; you can criticize surrogacy and still owe it everything.
There is a photo that Michaeli posted when her first son was born. In it, she is holding him close, her eyes filled with something you rarely see in politics: Tenderness. “This is a love story,” she wrote. “Now it is a love story of three.” This week, it became a love story of five.
We live in a world obsessed with clarity. But the truth is, progress – real progress – is messy. It requires flexibility and humility, and yes, sometimes it requires changing your mind.
So, let the court in London define “woman.” Let the world debate biology and identity. In Tel Aviv, a feminist who once said she would never be a mother is now singing lullabies to her daughter. And that, in 2025, could be the most progressive thing of all.
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