Gilat Ethel Bennett (née Einav; born 12 May 1977) is an Israeli pastry chef, parent counselor, and the wife of Naftali Bennett, who served as the prime minister of Israel from 2021 to 2022.
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Biography
Gilat Einav was born in Ramat HaSharon to Moshe and Bracha, and grew up in Kfar Uria as a secular Jew. She attended the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, where she focused on ballet studies. She served in the IDF as an education officer in the Paratroopers Brigade, where she met Naftali Bennett, then a reserve officer in the Maglan special forces unit, whom she invited to lecture her soldiers. After her release from the army, she studied confectionery, and worked in the profession.
Gilat married Naftali in 1999 when he was a law student at the Hebrew University. The couple moved to Jerusalem, and then Beit Aryeh. With the rise of the start-up company Cyota that was run by Naftali, the couple moved to New York. In New York, Gilat studied at the International Culinary Center, and worked as a dessert chef at several restaurants. She then began living a religious lifestyle, following her husband.
After four years in New York, the couple returned to Israel. Bennett opened an ice cream factory in Kfar Saba, called Gilati, and sold it following the birth of their eldest son. Subsequently, she was certified at the Adler Institute as a parent counselor and sleep consultant, which are her current occupations.
The Bennett family lives in Ra'anana with their four children. Their eldest son, Yonatan, is named after Yonatan Netanyahu, and their youngest son, David Emmanuel, is named after Emmanuel Moreno, who served alongside Naftali Bennett in the special forces.