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NEW YORK, NY — In the face of rising anti-Israel sentiment across the globe, Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, the largest Jewish women’s organization in the United States, is proud to announce its 2025 list of “18 American Zionist Women You Should Know.” As in each of the last two years, the women Hadassah has chosen represent the ever-changing face of Zionism and the wide variety of Zionist identities today.
The 2025 list includes a Muslim women’s-rights activist from Pakistan who once found herself racially profiled at the US border; an Emmy Award-winning actress and devout Catholic who is bringing Christians together to support Jews; a non-Jewish, Italian-American culinary star who posts new videos on Instagram about antisemitism and anti-Zionism almost every day; an Orthodox Jewish woman raising the visibility of other Orthodox Jewish women in communities around the world; and an Ethiopian-born former Israeli Defense Forces paratrooper who made battling antisemitism a key part of her campaign when she ran for the political office she holds today.
Whether they are activists, educators, writers, entertainers, politicians, business innovators, nonprofit leaders, several of those things or something else entirely, these 18 women are doing the critical work of advocating for Zionism and defending Israel in the US and around the world.
“Hadassah has fostered and promoted Zionist ideals for more than 100 years and the vision of our founder, Henrietta Szold, lives on through us,” said Carol Ann Schwartz, National President. “We take to heart our responsibility to empower those who are standing up for Israel.”
THE LIST
Anila Ali – Muslim American Activist
A co-founder of the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council (AMMWEC), Anila Ali was the only female Muslim organizational leader to support the Abraham Accords. When, at a 2024 interfaith screening of Screams Before Silence, Sheryl Sandberg’s documentary about Oct. 7, she spoke out about the weaponization of sexual violence against Israeli women and girls, she did so as both AMMWEC’s president and a Muslim woman. Born in Pakistan and now living in Washington, DC, Ali became a leading voice against border profiling after 9/11, collaborating with the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU Law School on the documentary Americans on Hold: Profiling, Prejudice, and National Security. A former teacher and a past trustee of the Irvine, Calif., Public School Foundation, she has authored books on radicalization and on education for the post-9/11 classroom.
Galia Amram – Lawyer and Jewish Nonprofit Leader
Galia Amram is the associate general counsel at a leading American tech company, where she oversees internal risk, investigations and child safety. Devoted to supporting Israel as a vibrant Jewish and democratic state, Amram has assisted the Israel Policy Forum, The Jewish Agency for Israel, the Israel Religious Action Center and the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism. She is a member of the board of the Union for Reform Judaism’s North American Board of Trustees and San Francisco's Jewish Community Federation. Before joining the tech industry, Amram was a partner at an international law firm.
Emily Austin – Broadcaster and Pro-Israel Advocate
A TV personality from New York, Emily Austin is a sports broadcaster for DAZN and a frequent commentator on Fox News and other news networks. She has hosted her own sports show, worked as an MTV anchor and, in 2024, at only 21, was the youngest Miss Universe judge ever until the pageant dropped her after she called attention to its silence after Oct. 7, 2023. With a social media following of more than 2.6 million, Austin is a passionate advocate for fighting antisemitism and a vocal supporter of Israel who received the 2024 Jerusalem Post-World Zionist Organization Award for her work combating antisemitism. Austin speaks to groups of all ages all over the world about antisemitism, Gen Z, politics, women’s issues and sports media.
Bellamy Bellucci – Black, Transgender Jewish Social Media Advocate
South African-born dancer, model and Israel advocate Bellamy Bellucci is known for her intersectional identity as a Black, transgender Jewish woman. She is passionate about Israel and using social media to combat antisemitism and promote inclusivity, and she is a prominent voice in the LGBTQIA+ community on diversity and representation. Bellucci performed with the internationally known troupes Ballets Eloelle/Grandiva and Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo after years of rigorous training in classical ballet at South Africa’s National School of the Arts, the South African Ballet Theatre School and the Washington School of Ballet in Washington, DC.
Suzanne Patt Benvenisti – Hadassah Executive
As executive director of the Hadassah Offices in Israel, Suzanne Patt Benvenisti leads a team that connects Hadassah in the US, and Hadassah supporters around the world, to the organization’s hospitals and youth villages in Israel. In response to Oct. 7, 2023, Benvenisti launched Hadassah’s Yellow Nail campaign to highlight Hamas’ brutal acts against Israeli women and girls and to complement Hadassah’s End The Silence global awareness campaign to end the use of rape as a weapon of war. In 2025, she brought Hadassah together with the Hapoel Lev Jerusalem women’s basketball club to empower the next generation of Israeli women. Benvenisti, who was born in Houston, Tex., and made aliyah with her family in 2011, serves on the board of Keren Kayemet L’Israel.
Stephanie Bonder – Jewish Educator and Communal Leader
A dedicated Zionist from a six-generation family of Zionists, Stephanie Bonder has a passion for Israel sparked by AIPAC’s teen leadership program and strengthened when she studied at Hebrew University. An advocate for Jewish education, Bonder spent 17 years at the Golda Och Academy, a New Jersey Jewish day school, after more than 10 years in public education, and recently earned her second MA, in Jewish education, from Hebrew U. She has held leadership positions at the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ and Congregation Agudath Israel (Caldwell, NJ) and is both a member of Hadassah’s national board and an area VP/advisor for the Northern New Jersey region. Particularly active in Hadassah’s education and advocacy efforts, Bonder has represented the organization at the United Nations and the World Zionist Congress.
Caroline D'Amore – Founder and Pro-Israel Activist
Caroline D’Amore is an Italian-American entrepreneur who, while not Jewish herself, advocates for Jewish causes and uses social media, public speaking and philanthropy to fight antisemitism and misinformation about Israel. The Los Angeles-based D’Amore has visited Israel three times since Oct. 7, 2023, and posts new videos about antisemitism and anti-Zionism on Instagram (@carolinedamore) almost every day. In addition to her advocacy work, D’Amore is a creative force in the culinary and entertainment worlds as the founder and CEO of Pizza Girl sauces and a TV personality, DJ and actress who appeared on Fox’s “Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars” and MTV’s reality show “The Hills: New Beginnings.”
Hilary Hawn – Community Advocate, Educator and Writer
Over the last five years, California-based community advocate, educator and writer Hilary Hawn has played an important role in combatting antisemitism on Instagram (@hilalove). Her ability to embrace both the diaspora and Israel comes from her strong Jewish upbringing, her understanding of Jewish history and her study of anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley. It was at Berkeley that she decided to speak out after facing antisemitism and anti-Zionism. The decision led to her mantra, “No Crumbs,” meaning that when confronted by antisemitism, Jews cannot be content with scraps of attention from organizations, public figures, allies and supposed friends. In 2024, Hawn had one of the most meaningful experiences of her life when she helped repaint a mural at Kibbutz Kerem Shalom that had been destroyed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.
Patricia Heaton – Christian Zionist Activist, Philanthropist and Award-Winning Actress
In 2024, the Emmy Award-winning actress, bestselling author, producer, philanthropist – and devout Catholic – Patricia Heaton founded the October 7th Coalition (O7C). Committed to supporting and protecting the Jewish community, O7C promotes Israel's right to exist and rejects antisemitism by educating Christians, helping them find common ground and encouraging them to identify opportunities in their individual spheres of influence to support the Jewish community. In 2024, the Israel Allies Foundation on (IAF) named Heaton one of Israel's top-50 Christian allies while Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center named her an Ambassador of Holocaust Memory.
Michal Ilai – Israel Educator
The Israeli-born Michal Ilai is the senior Israel educator at Shalom Austin, the hub of Jewish life in Central Texas. She has dedicated her 30-year career to the idea that the Hebrew language, Judaism and Israel are the pillars of Jews’ collective identity. Ilai’s love of education was ignited when she served in the Israel Defense Forces as a teacher for people making aliyah and soldiers unable to read. Since then, she has launched programs, designed curricula and led workshops all with the goal of strengthening Jewish peoplehood. Ilai holds an MA in Jewish professional studies from Gratz College.
Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll – American-Israeli Writer and Activist
A grandchild of Holocaust survivors, the Israel-based Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll was taught to never be a bystander. The American-Israeli scribe and activist writes about Judaism, women's issues and Israel for The Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post, the UK’s Jewish Chronicle and other outlets and battles anti-Israel misinformation as a co-host of JNS-TV’s “The Quad.” A co-founder of Chochmat Nashim (CHEN), Jaskoll balances defending Israel and the Jewish people with fighting religious extremism and women’s marginalization. She is aided in the latter by two CHEN projects – The Jewish Life Photo Bank, through which CHEN works to raise public awareness of Orthodox women in Jewish communities around the world, and Rate My Beit Din, which strives to improve the rabbinic court system that leaves many Jewish women chained to dead marriages.
Allison Tombros Korman – Founder and Women’s Health Activist
For the last two decades, Allison Tombros Korman has dedicated herself to the cause of reproductive rights. She founded the Red Tent Fund, which is rooted in Jewish values but prides itself on being an inclusive space for anyone who needs or supports access to reproductive care, regardless of background or beliefs. In the wake of Oct. 7, 2023, Korman took a dramatic stand against intolerance when, confronted by antisemitic conduct, she resigned from the top position at an organization that helps those who want to make their own reproductive choices. Korman also took action in 2013, when she became the founding executive director of Culture of Respect: End Campus Sexual Violence after witnessing the importance of standing up for survivors of campus sexual assault.
Esther Panitch – Politician and Lawyer
A member of the Georgia House of Representatives, Esther Panitch is a vocal advocate for issues related to criminal justice reform, public safety and the fight against antisemitism. She made history in 2022 when, already a well-known criminal defense and family law attorney through her legal commentary for various TV networks, she became the first woman elected to represent House District 51 and the only Jewish member of Georgia’s legislature at the time. Panitch brings her legal expertise to bear on her legislative work, as she showed in 2024, when she co-sponsored a bill proposing that the legislature adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Mazi Pilip – Ethiopian-Israeli-American Politician and Zionist Advocate
Now serving her second term as the legislator for District 10 in New York City’s Nassau County, Mazi Melesa Pilip was elected after defeating a four-term incumbent, becoming the first Republican from Great Neck to be elected to the Nassau County Legislature. While she ran in 2021, her road to political office began 30 years earlier, in 1991, at the age of 12. That’s when she and her family immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia as part of Israel’s Operation Solomon. Pilip later served as a gunsmith in the Israel Defense Forces' elite Paratrooper Brigade and earned a BA from the University of Haifa and an MA from Tel Aviv University. She moved to the US in 2005, entering local politics after serving as vice president of her Orthodox synagogue in Great Neck.
Yocheved Ruttenberg – Founder and Mobilizer
Yocheved Ruttenberg is the founder and CEO of Sword of Iron Israel Volunteer Corp., a hub for people who want to volunteer in Israel that has helped mobilize more than 40,000 people worldwide since Oct. 7, 2023. Within days of the Hamas attacks, Ruttenberg, who had been living in Dallas and working in the roofing industry, dropped everything and flew to Israel, bringing with her 23 duffel bags full of supplies purchased with $17,000 she had raised on social media in just a week. A two-week trip turned into a decision to make aliyah. Since then, Ruttenberg has dedicated herself to bridging gaps between communities and inspiring people around the world to take action.
Deborah Villanueva – Health Professional, Educator and Zionist Activist
Dr. Deborah Villanueva is a mental and behavioral health professional, an educator and a Zionism advocate. In her role as the women’s health chair for Hadassah’s Long Beach/Orange County chapter, a member of the board of Hadassah’s Southern California region and the chair of Evolve Hadassah: The Next Generation, she leads programs that help empower women and strengthen the connection between American Jews and Israel. At Temple Beth El in San Pedro, Calif., where she is the VP of education, she creates inclusive learning environments.
Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath – Award-Winning Jewish Educator and Author
The senior director of knowledge, ideas and learning for The Jewish Education Project, Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath is an award-winning Jewish educator for whom Israel and Zionism education are central to a comprehensive Jewish education. She is a recognized expert on Zionism, Israel, antisemitism, Jewish identity and Jewish adolescents, and the author of #antisemitism: Coming of Age During the Resurgence of Hate, a finalist for the 2022 National Jewish Book Award. A sought-after speaker on Jewish identity and choices before and since Oct. 7, 2023, Vinokor-Meinrath has become a leading voice on the American-Jewish experience at this transitional point in history. She holds an EdD from Gratz College and an MA from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Elena Yacov – Pro-Israel Nonprofit Professional
A recognized force in Zionist philanthropy, Elena Yacov helps donors and nonprofits maximize their impact and leads initiatives that strengthen pro-Israel advocacy. As the executive director of the Milstein Family Foundation, she oversees strategic grantmaking, operations and programming, focusing on capacity-building and collaboration among grantees. As president of the TalkIsrael Foundation, a Milstein affiliate, she helps young content creators learn how to use social media to foster positive conversations about Israel while as head of the Impact Forum Foundation, another Milstein affiliate, she leads a network of philanthropists whose projects advance pro-Israel advocacy and the fight against antisemitism. In 2024, The Jerusalem Post named Yacov one of its 25 “ViZIONaries,” a group of young people who have stood up for Israel in especially noteworthy ways.
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