Background
Ella Gera was born in London, England, in 1956. Her later career developed largely in Israel, where she became a member of the Israel Bar and built a practice in commercial, property and cross-border work.
Her working life joined legal practice with advocacy for women's rights and municipal government. These fields developed side by side in the Tel Aviv area, where commercial law firms, a national women's advocacy movement and local councils were all active during the decades of her career.
Education
Gera studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at Tel Aviv University. Her documented qualifications include a bachelor's degree from the Hebrew University and a law degree (LL.B.) from Tel Aviv University.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, whose origins date to 1918, is among Israel's oldest institutions of higher learning. Tel Aviv University grew out of the Tel Aviv Institute for Higher Education, founded in 1953, and was granted university status in 1956.
Career
Gera's legal career began in Tel Aviv. From 1985 to 1988 she was an associate at Zellermayer, Pelossof & Co., Advocates, a firm founded in 1984 that became one of Israel's largest and most distinguished commercial law practices, with a focus on mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance. From 1988 to 1990 she was a partner at Fighel & Gera, Advocates. Between 1991 and 1993 she worked as a senior associate in the London office of Zellermayer, Pelossof & Schiffer, a branch that connected the Tel Aviv firm with cross-border work.
From 1998 to 2004 she served as deputy mayor of Kfar Shmaryahu, a municipality in Israel, with responsibility for the education and tender committees and other municipal matters. Local councils are the elected municipal bodies that administer services and budgets within Israeli towns.
From 2001 to 2005 she was executive director of the Israel Women's Network. Founded in 1984 as an outcome of a US-Israel dialogue held in Jerusalem under the sponsorship of the American Jewish Congress, the network combined consciousness-raising, education, litigation and lobbying. In this role she was involved in all aspects of lobbying and legal initiatives for the advancement of women. In a published interview she corrected a common view that Israel's women's movement grew mainly from kibbutz pioneering or military service, arguing that the struggle for gender equality dates back to the 1920s, when women fought for the vote in settlements before the Jewish state.
From 2012 she has been a partner at Gottlieb, Gera, Engel, Heifetz & Co. Advocates, where her experience covers property transactions, governmental relations, cross-border work and corporate counseling. Her professional profile also records board service on several companies and cultural institutions. Her baseline professional record places her as a partner at Zellermayer, Gratch & Pelossof, Advocates, in Tel Aviv.
Politics
Ella Gera's public activity centred on women's rights advocacy rather than party politics. The Israel Women's Network, which she led as executive director, describes itself as a non-partisan civil society organization founded in 1984. Its founders presented their demands to the leaders of the Labor and Likud parties, which were the two largest parties in Israel's political system during her career. Labor was associated with the centre-left and Likud with the centre-right, and the network chose to pursue women's equality through legislation, advocacy and litigation across both camps.
Membership
Gera is a member of the Israel Bar, the professional body through which lawyers are admitted to practise law in Israel.
From 1996 to 2000 she was president of the International Women's Forum, Israel, the national chapter of an international network that brings together women leaders from business, the professions and public life.
