The Dinah Project
The Dinah Project
Our Story
On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists breached the security fence between Israel and the Gaza Strip and indiscriminately murdered women and men, children and the elderly, Jews, Arabs and even foreign workers. Almost immediately, fears arose, supported by preliminary testimony, of brutal sexual violence against both women and men. The inhuman depravity of the Hamas terrorists drove us to mobilize and embark on a determined struggle to counter denial, disinformation and silencing of the victims.
The project is named after our biblical sister, Dinah, whose rape is the first recorded in the Bible and who is a symbol of recognition for all victims of sexual abuse. The Hebrew word “Dinah” also denotes law and justice. Dinah’s voice remains mute in the biblical story, and so we are committed, in her name, to raise the voices of all victims of CRSV, wherever it occurs.
The aspiration to prosecute terrorists for crimes of CRSV faces many challenges. Building on the endeavors of pioneers in the fields of human rights and feminsim, we seek to present solutions to these challenges. We are committed to spearheading essential changes in Israeli and international narratives and legal doctrines, including those related to conflict-related sexual violence.
Impact
As high-level professionals in the legal and gender fields, we have built a comprehensive and reliable legal and evidentiary infrastructure that has made us a leading knowledge base – both in Israel and worldwide – on the subject of recognition and justice for the victims of sexual crimes on October 7 and subsequent captivity. We have made dozens of public appearances and have provided briefings to hundreds of high-level diplomats, decision-makers, journalists, and civil society leaders, activity that we plan to continue.
We were instrumental in bringing Pramila Patten, UN Under Secretary-General, Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict to the region. Patten prepared a comprehensive report documenting clear evidence of systematic sexual violence on October 7, including rape and torture.
The Dinah Project’s international advisory board operates under the auspices of the Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement of Women at Bar-Ilan University.
Impact
As high-level professionals in the legal and gender fields, we have built a comprehensive and reliable legal and evidentiary infrastructure that has made us a leading knowledge base – both in Israel and worldwide – on the subject of recognition and justice for the victims of sexual crimes on October 7 and subsequent captivity. We have made dozens of public appearances and have provided briefings to hundreds of high-level diplomats, decision-makers, journalists, and civil society leaders, activity that we plan to continue.
We were instrumental in bringing Pramila Patten, UN Under Secretary-General, Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict to the region. Patten prepared a comprehensive report documenting clear evidence of systematic sexual violence on October 7, including rape and torture.
The Dinah Project’s international advisory board operates under the auspices of the Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement of Women at Bar-Ilan University.
Members
Professor Ruth Halperin-Kaddari
Founding Director, The Rackman Center, Bar-Ilan University
Founding Member of the Dinah Project;
Co-author of the book ‘A Quest for Justice: October 7 and Beyond’
Ruth Halperin-Kaddari is an expert on family law and international women’s rights and is the Founding Academic Director of the Rackman Center for the Advancement of the Status of Women at Bar-Ilan University Law Faculty in Israel.
In December 2018, she completed three terms on the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), where she served twice as Vice-Chair and as the first Chair of the Working Group on Inquiries. A graduate of Yale Law School (LL.M.; J.S.D.), she is a renowned speaker in academic as well as professional forums and has published extensively, including Women in Israel (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004) and CEDAW: A Commentary, 2nd Edition (co-edited, Oxford University Press.)
She is the recipient of numerous research grants and international awards, including an honorary doctorate from Brandeis University, the US State Department Women of Courage Award, and the Human Rights Award of the Ingrid zu Solms-Stiftung Foundation in Germany. She is also an Honorary Fellow of the Tel Aviv-Yafo Academic College.
In 2018 she was named one of Apolitical’s 100 most influential people in gender policy around the world. In June 2023 she was shortlisted for the OHCHR Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls.
Att. Col (Res.) Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas
Director of the Dinah Project; The former Chief Military Prosecutor
Founding Member of the Dinah Project;
Co-author of the book ‘A Quest for Justice: October 7 and Beyond’
Sharon Zagagi-Pinhas, the former IDF Chief Military Prosecutor, is the Director of the Dinah Project. During her twenty-four years of service in the IDF, she held numerous senior positions and prosecuted several complex and high-profile legal cases.
A graduate of the IDF National Defense College, she is an expert on military and operational law, criminal and administrative law. She holds an M.A. in Political science, an LL.M. (cum laude) and an LL.B.
She has spearheaded efforts to affirm the rights of victims of crime in the IDF and in Israeli civil society, and promoted vital legislative amendments. Her groundbreaking work has led to important legal precedents in the Israeli Supreme Court.
Judge (Ret.) Nava Ben-Or
Former Judge on the Jerusalem District Court and Deputy State Attorney for Criminal Matters
Founding Member of the Dinah Project;
Co-author of the book ‘A Quest for Justice: October 7 and Beyond’
Nava Ben-Or served on the Jerusalem District Court between 2007-2018. From 1982 until 2004, she was a prosecutor at the State Attorney’s office, advancing to the position of Deputy State Attorney for Criminal Matters.
She taught at the Hebrew University’s School of Public Policy and currently lectures at the university’s Faculty of Law. Ben-Or holds an LL.B. and LL.M. from the Hebrew University, and an M.A. in Philosophy from Tel Aviv University.
In August 2020, she was appointed as chairperson of a public committee dedicated to advocating for policy changes regarding sexual abuse of girls, and since November 2021 has headed a committee of ‘IGY’ – Israel’s only LGBTQ+ youth and young adult movement – tasked with examining sexual abuse among LGBTQ+ youth and the organization’s own volunteers.
Nurit Jacobs-Yinon
Creative, Branding & Visual Strategy Director of the Dinah Project
Visual Editor of the book ‘A Quest for Justice: October 7 and Beyond’
Nurit Jacobs-Yinon, owner of ‘Aluma Films’, is a filmmaker and director, artist, curator and social activist.
Among her films: ‘Covenant- Brith’, winner of Best Documentary Award at the Religion Today Festival (2006), ‘A Tale of a Woman and a Robe’, winner of the Israeli Documentary Filmmakers Forum Prize (2013), and ‘Nazareth Cinema Lady’, winner of the best film award in the Israeli category at the EPOS International Art Film Festival (2016). Her solo exhibition ‘Inclusion and Exclusion’ (2022) summarized a decade-long artistic-activistic journey.
Leah Goeppinger-Levy
Director of External Relations & Strategic Development of the Dinah Project
Leah is deeply passionate about women’s rights and social justice in Israel. She holds an M.A. in Gender Studies from Bar Ilan University, an LL.B. from IDC Herzliya, and a B.A. in History from Smith College.
Leah brings over 20 years of experience as a professional writer, strategist and consultant in the non-profit sector. She joined the Rackman Center staff in 2020, previously working for several organizations while deepening her familiarity with various social issues, including at-risk youth and young adults, women’s rights, education, Jewish renewal and pluralism, shared society and coexistence, health and more.
She strongly believes in the importance of transparent and close partnerships between organizations, the government, and donors, and their joint role in building a robust society in Israel.
Former Members
Founding Member;
Former Director of the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women, Ministry for Social Equality
Founding Member;
CEO of The Israel Women’s Network
International journalist
Founding Member;
Currently inactive due to government service
Advisory Board
President (Ret.) of the Supreme Court of Israel, Justice Dorit Beinisch
Israel
Dorit Beinisch served as the President of the Supreme Court of Israel from 2006-2012 and as a Supreme Court Justice from December 1995. Before joining the Supreme Court, Justice Beinisch served in the Israeli Ministry of Justice for 28 years, holding different positions in the Criminal Law and Constitutional and Administrative Law departments. Her last role in the Ministry of Justice was the State Attorney of Israel.
Rev. Majed El Shafie
Canada
Majed El Shafie is President and Founder of One Free World Internation and a human rights champion. After being forced to flee religious persecution in his native Egypt for converting to Christianity, he has dedicated his life’s work to fighting for human rights on the front lines and in halls of power. El Shafie regularly testifies before parliamentary bodies in Canada, United States, the EU and the UK on human rights matters. In 2016, El Shafie received the Raoul Wallenberg Citation for Moral Courage in the Face of Antisemtism and in 2012 was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Gal Gadot
USA / Israel
Gal Gadot is one of Hollywood’s most engaging and sought-after talents. In 2017, she starred as Diana/Wonder Woman in the first-ever ‘Wonder Woman’ feature, which was the highest grossing film of the season, taking in more than USD 820 million worldwide. Her previous film credits include ‘Heart of Stone’, ‘Red Notice’, ‘Death on the Nile’, ‘Wonder Woman 1984’, ‘Justice League’, ‘Triple 9’, ‘Criminal’, ‘Keeping Up with the Joneses’, and the ‘Fast and Furious’ franchise. In 2025, she will star as the Evil Queen in the Disney live action adaption of ‘Snow White’. Additionally, Gadot is developing numerous projects under her production company, ‘Pilot Wave’, alongside her partner Jaron Varsano.
Prof. Carol Gilligan
USA
Carol Gilligan is the author of the book ‘In a Different Voice’ which Harvard University Press refers to as “the little book that started a revolution”. Her latest book, ‘In a Human Voice’, was named as a 2023 Book of the Year by Times Literary Supplement which described it as “essential reading for our time”. For over 30 years, she was a member of the Harvard faculty and held the university’s first chair in Gender Studies. She is currently a University Professor at NYU, where she founded the Radical Listening Project.
Photo credit: Joyce Ravid
Former MK Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh
Israel
Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh was the first Druze woman elected to the Knesset and the first non-Jewish woman to anchor prime-time news programs in both Hebrew and Arabic. During her Knesset tenure (2019-2021), she served on key committees including the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee and the Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality. She also chaired the Israel-Switzerland Parliamentary Group and co-chaired the Israel-Germany Parliamentary Group. In 2021, she became the first non-Jewish Senior Envoy of the Jewish Agency for Israel. She was ranked among the 100 most influential Israeli figures by the ‘Calcalist’ daily in 2020, and was named a ‘Young Global Leader’ by the World Economic Forum in 2021.
Former Ambassador Aharon (Ronny) Leshno-Yaar
Israel
Aharon (Ronny) Leshno-Yaar served as Israel’s Ambassador and Head of Delegation to the UN institutions in Geneva and as Ambassador of Israel to the European Union and NATO in Brussels. He served two terms as the Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and as Head of the UN and International Organizations Division. He currently teaches multilateral diplomacy at Ben-Gurion University and is a consultant for the World Jewish Congress.
Dahlia Lithwick
Canada
Dahlia Lithwick, one of Canada’s most foremost legal commentators, is an MSNBC analyst and a senior legal correspondent at Slate magazine. She hosts ‘Amicus’, Slate’s award-winning weekly podcast about the law and the Supreme Court. Lithwick is also the author of the New York Times bestseller ‘Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America’, which recounts the gripping and heroic story of the women attorneys who fought the racism, sexism, and xenophobia of Donald Trump’s first presidency – and won.
Photo credit: Nils Folke Anderson
Former Ambassador Deborah Lyons
Canada
Deborah Lyons, a veteran diplomat with 25 years of experience, served as Canada’s Ambassador to Israel and Afghanistan and as Deputy Ambassador to the US, also holding senior positions in several governmental offices.
Ms. Lyons served as UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan where, among her other duties, she oversaw UN operations after the Taliban takeover in August 2021. For her work in Afghanistan, Ms. Lyons was awarded the Mark Palmer Prize by the Community of Democracies. Ms. Lyons holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of New Brunswick and completed studies at the National Defence College.
Raheel Raza
Canada
Raheel Raza serves as President of The Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow and is a founding member of The Muslim Reform Movement. In addition, she is the Director of Forum for Learning, President of the Steering Committee of the Council for Muslims Against Antisemitism (CMAA), and a member of the Abraham Global Peace Initiative’s national advisory board. Raza is an award winning journalist, public speaker, and a tireless advocate for human rights, gender equality, and dignity in diversity.
Prof. Dr. Beate Rudolf
Germany
Professor Dr. Beate Rudolf has served as the Director of the German Institute for Human Rights, the independent national human rights institution of Germany (A-status) since 2010. From March 2016 to March 2019, she also chaired the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI). Previously, she taught public law, public international law, and European law as a junior professor in the Department of Law at Freie Universität Berlin. In 2017, the university awarded her the Margherita von Brentano Prize “for her outstanding work in the field of human rights and women’s rights in particular”.
Adv. Amit Soussana
Israel
Amit Soussana is an attorney and litigator who specializes in intellectual property. On October 7, she was kidnapped from her home in Kfar Aza and was released on November 30, after 55 days in captivity.
Soussana is the first hostage to have spoken publicly about the sexual torture, abuse, and the constant terror she experienced. Her extensive interview with the New York Times helped to focus global attention on the atrocities and sexual violence committed against the hostages. She has since spoken to other media outlets and met with the then US Vice President Kamala Harris, diplomats and other senior officials. Soussana has stated that she chose to go public to raise awareness about the plight of the hostages.
Noa Tishby
USA / Israel
Noa Tishby, a two-time New York Times best-selling author, is Israel’s former Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism and Delegitimization.
After a successful career in entertainment in Israel, Noa relocated to Los Angeles where she was the producer of ‘In Treatment’, the first Israeli TV show to be made into an American series (HBO).
In 2011, Tishby founded the online advocacy and rapid response organization, ‘Act For Israel’. She was named among the 50 most powerful Jews in the world and listed on the Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Power list of international executives.
Our Partners
Jacob Blaustein Institute
for the Advancement
of Human Rights
The Arev Fund
National Council of
Jewish Women
Greater Miami Jewish Federation
Seed the Dream Foundation
Jewish Women International
I Believe Israeli Women
British Embassy
Israel
Credits
Studio GLD
Branding, Web Design and Development
Yaniv Rosenberg – Smart Public Relations
Noy Assraf Barnes – Noyse Publicity Management (USA)
Public Relations
Chen Ofir
Social Media
Special Thanks
Michal Herzog, Dr. Oren Setter, Michal Yaniv, Brigadier General Naama Rozen Grimberg, Michal Philosoph, Emmanuel Nahshon, Eytan Schwarts, Dahlia Lithwick, Dr. Shelly Aviv Yeini, Naomi Granot, Nofar Shemla Kadosh, Dr. Michael Birnhack, Oren Solomon, Shirona Partem.
Credits
Studio GLD
Branding, Web Design and Development
Yaniv Rosenberg – Smart Public Relations
Noy Assraf Barnes – Noyse Publicity Management (USA)
Public Relations
Chen Ofir
Social Media
Special Thanks
Michal Herzog, Dr. Oren Setter, Michal Yaniv, Brigadier General Naama Rosen Grimber, Michal Philosoph, Emmanuel Nahshon, Eytan Schwarts, Dahlia Lithwick, Dr. Shelly Aviv Yeini, Naomi Granot, Nofar Shemla Kadosh, Dr. Michael Birnhack, Oren Solomon, Shirona Partem.