Marcia Freedman

Marcia Judith Freedman (; née Prince; May 17, 1938 – September 21, 2021) was an American-Israeli activist and politician. She advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, as well as for women's and gay rights. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Freedman immigrated to Israel in 1969, where she played a leading role in the development of the second-wave feminist movement during the 1970s. She served as a member of the Knesset from 1973 to 1977.

Biography Born into a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, on May 17, 1938, Freedman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bennington College and a Master of Arts degree from New York University. Between 1960 and 1967, she participated in the American civil rights movement. She immigrated to Israel in 1969, where she became active in social and political causes.

Freedman gained public attention for her efforts to reform abortion laws and advance feminist issues in Israel. In 1973, the Israeli feminist movement chose to support Shulamit Aloni’s Ratz party, and Freedman was placed third on its electoral list. The party won three seats in the 1973 Israeli legislative election, resulting in Freedman’s election to the Knesset. Ratz merged into Ya’ad – Civil Rights Movement in 1975, but in 1976 Freedman and Aryeh Eliav left to form the Social-Democratic Faction, later renamed the Independent Socialist Faction. Freedman served as a member of the Knesset from 1973 to 1977.

Freedman returned to the United States in 1981 and lived again in Israel between 1997 and 2002, during which she founded the Community of Learning Women, an organization focused on women's studies and computer literacy.

Her memoir, Exile in the Promised Land, was dedicated to her father, whose example she cited as influential in her life. a Zionist organization supporting a two-state solution, which merged into J Street in 2010. At the time of her death, she remained the only open lesbian to have served in the Knesset.