Hadash chairman Mohammed Barakeh to retire from the Knesset in March

MK Mohammed Barakeh, the chairman of the Hadash front, said Thursday he would retire on March 8 and be replaced in the Knesset by Nabila Espanioly, a psychologist and currently No. 5 on the Arab-Jewish front’s slate.

Nabila Espanioly during an anti-occupation rally in Tel-Aviv (Photo: Al Ittihad)

Nabila Espanioly during an anti-occupation rally in Tel-Aviv (Photo: Al Ittihad)

Espanioly is a cofounder of the Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel. In November 2012, Barakeh, 59, said he would retire in two years to make room for new faces and ensure a women’s presence in the front’s Knesset faction. On Thursday, Barakeh, speaking at a conference on gender differences in Israeli voting patterns, said he intentionally chose March 8, International Women’s Day. Barakeh, who has been in the Knesset for 15 years, chairs the Committee on Drug Abuse. Espanioly, who is also 59, was born in Nazareth, where she lives today.