Flora May Bedra-Golan was born in Tel Aviv,[1]Israel. She is the child of a single Orthodox Jewish mother who made Aliyah from Iraq as a 3-year-old girl as part of Operation Ezra and Nehemiah. She grew up near the old central bus station in South Tel Aviv.[8] She still lives today in South Tel Aviv, with her mother, previously on Mount Zion Street and today in Kfar Shalem.[9]
At the age of 9, Golan was interviewed with her mother as part of a Channel One report on poverty in Israel. They were living on social security in a low-class neighborhood in South Tel Aviv.[10] Following the broadcast, May was contacted by Gila Almagor and her Wish Foundation charity. Identified as a child with potential, she was invited to attend Ironi Dalet High School, located in North Tel Aviv, a higher socioeconomic neighborhood.
Golan became politically active in 2011, campaigning to raise awareness about the impact of undocumented immigrants from Africa on south Tel Aviv.[11] She became a highly recognisable face in the campaign against the presence of undocumented immigrants in Tel Aviv.[12]
In 2013, she established the organization "Hebrew city", which stood for election to the Tel Aviv city council, but was disqualified for technical reasons.
In April 2023, prime minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu nominated May Golan as a consul general to New York. This appointment did not come to fruition due to the opposition of elements in the American government about Golan's past statements regarding African refugees in Israel, which were defined as racist.[2]
Media appearances
May Golan in Jerusalem, 15 June 2021
May Golan has been a frequent guest on political panels on television channels in Israel. She has also been interviewed by international media organizations, such as the BBC, Reuters, Fox News, i24News, and RTVI.
In 2014, she was chosen as one of the 66 women to be aware of, by the newspaper Haaretz.[13]
In 2015, she was selected as 'Woman of the Year' in the social field by Israel's Channel 7.[14]
In July 2022, TikTok[15] banned her post on violence in South Tel Aviv for incitement to racism.
Controversy
Golan has attracted international attention for her vocal support of Donald Trump,[6][7] and incendiary remarks about African immigration to Israel.[2][8] When she was accused of racism at protest rallies in her early days as an activist, she was quoted as saying: “If I’m racist in order to preserve my life, I'm proud to be racist.”[16]
In 2013 at a political rally of the Jewish Power party she reiterated, "If I am racist for wanting to defend my country and for wanting to protect my basic rights and security, then I’m a proud racist."[2]
In 2023, a group of former Israeli ambassadors said they were shocked by the appointment of Golan as Israel's new women's advancement minister, saying that “Golan’s appointment is outrageous as she is a racist and divisive figure, which is the exact opposite from what Israel needs in such a critical place.”[2]
In 2024, Golan made a speech in the Knesset during the 2023-24 Israel–Hamas war, in which she said: "I am personally proud of the ruins of Gaza, and that every baby, even 80 years from now, will tell their grandchildren what the Jews did. No dove and no olive branch, only a sword to cut off Sinwar's head, that's what he will receive from us."[17][18]
