International Women's Day: Jewish female icons 2023

Politicians and activists

This list will be all women who are alive apart from the first: Golda Meir. One of the most influential female politicians in history, the last 12 months have really shown the importance of her legacy.

She’s proved an inspiration for fighters trying to save their homeland in her native Ukraine, while a new film about her life starring Helen Mirren will show the impossible choices she faced and how she stood up to some of the most powerful men in the world.

I don’t envy anyone whose job involves corralling our often fractious and always argumentative community but Board of Deputies President Marie Van Der Zyl often manages to hit exactly the right note when it comes to sticking up for us.

Dame Melinda Simmons has one of the toughest diplomat jobs in the world: our woman in Ukraine, she’s heading the British response to the Russian invasion.

The former Labour MP Ruth Smeeth could have – as some Labour members wanted – papered over the cracks and pretended the antisemitism the party not only flirted with but indulged wholeheartedly has magically disappeared. I’m pleased she’s still there to hold the party to account.

The only plus of growing antisemitism on university campuses means that we have a young but experienced cohort of fighters with experience of the nastiest truculence of left-wing antisemitism.

Nina Freedman had a three-year fight with her own university, Bristol, over the conspiracy theorist professor David Miller and she won. She’s now working for the Antisemitism Policy Trust and is a trustee of the Jewish Leadership Council – a star of the future.

And internationally we have some brave women on the frontline of fighting antisemitism; Noa Tishby is Israel’s first envoy for combatting antisemitism and with a mix of charm and facts is already making a huge impression.

Deborah Lipstadt has the incredibly important job of US special envoy monitoring and combatting antisemitism in America where Jew-hatred is rising among the left and the right while former Hollywood lawyer Lana Melman is leading the fight against BDS.

Showbusiness

I’ll never forget the first time I saw producer Nicola Schindler on a television panel; this small, unassuming Jewish woman was, at the time, a rare female voice in an industry dominated by men. The industry is changing and part of that is thanks to the influence of women like Nicola whose brilliant works speak for themselves – from It’s a Sin to Nolly to The Stranger – she’s helped create some of the most compelling and popular stories on British television.

I’m slightly obsessed with banking drama Industry and can’t wait to see what its star Marisa Abela does with Amy Winehouse in a biopic of the tragic singer. Another obsession was The Traitors, in part thanks to Claudia Winkleman who goes from strength to strength as a presenter with her own inimitable style.

For services to fighting antisemitism in a worthier-than-thou industry, a special award goes to Tracy Ann Oberman who is taking her activism onto stage - firstly by creating the idea for Jews In Their Own Words and presently by reclaiming A Merchant of Venice on stage by making it a very personal story.

Kudos too to Rachel Riley whose campaigning against antisemitism has led to more activism on important subjects including violence against women and online disinformation – we are lucky to have celebrities as brilliant and articulate as these two speaking up.

Meanwhile Jamie Lee Curtis has joined the fray, bravely denouncing Kanye West’s antisemitism while also funding memorials and Holocaust remembrance in Eastern Europe. This weekend she will be at the Oscars having received her first nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once.

The charity bosses

The complete unsung heroes of our community - it is both female volunteers and charity bosses who keep us all afloat.

I was amazed at how many top politicians the Holocaust Education Trust’s Karen Pollock managed to amass at a launch for Holocaust Memorial Day recently. Her organisation is helping to stem the tide against Holocaust misinformation and antisemitism with a generation of non-Jewish youngsters who have become our allies.

Naomi Dickson made huge strides at the Jewish Women’s Aid, has worked for Jewish Blind and Disabled, served as a Women’s Aid trustee and is now CEO of Norwood helping children with learning disabilities.

Dr Edie Friedman founded JCore, the Jewish Council for Racial Equality, in 1976 and is an important and always humane voice in this nation’s constant debate over asylum.

Writers and broadcasters

When American journalist Bari Weiss left the New York Times because of antisemitism and misogyny she had no solid plan. Within a couple of years she has now created her own mini media empire which debates, always with great intelligence, some of the big issues of our day.

Hadley Freeman, a columnist for this newspaper, was just as brave when she spoke out against similar issues at The Guardian and has proved a particularly articulate and important voice for women’s rights.

I recently interviewed the incredible 95-year-old Lore Segal whose book about her Kindertransport years, Other People’s Houses, is a must read. She’s still writing – her latest book is about friendship and getting old and deserves to be read more widely.

Big changes for two brilliant broadcasters: Vanessa Feltz who left the BBC over ageism for Talk TV and Emily Maitlis who also left the BBC and now fronts one of the most popular podcasts in the country, The News Agents, and is about to be played by Gillian Anderson in a drama about her infamous interview with Prince Andrew.

As a former Sun reporter, I burst with pride at Noa Hoffman who, four days into her job there as a political reporter, brought in the ‘gropergate’ story that was the beginning of the end of Boris Johnson’s premiership.

Scientists

I don’t know enough about science and I am sure this category should be bigger but I’m particularly impressed by the work of Dr Gilly Regev whose nasal spray SaNOtize, which kills the majority of bugs including Covid 19, will be life changing, especially for people who are immunocompromised.

And, last but not least, the Russian-born Dr Maria Nadakka has helped inspire a new generation of female scientists with her SonoMask – a reusable face covering that kills bacteria and viruses that is in use around the world.