When Emily Austin was 16, a Holocaust education trip to Poland changed her life. The child of secular Israeli immigrants to New York, Austin grew up in Brooklyn and decided early on that being a Jew was important to her identity. But after the Poland trip, Jewish pride and combating antisemitism took center stage in her life.
“It was a turning point,” said Austin, now 23 and a sports journalist, model and social media influencer with over 3 million followers on Instagram. “It was so traumatizing, and I made a promise to myself to not let it happen again.”
After Oct. 7, 2023, Austin, already a passionate public advocate for Israel, went to southern Israel to see firsthand the devastation wrought by Hamas and to meet with victims and survivors. Austin documented her experiences in videos and pictures that she shared with her millions of followers.
Despite generating backlash for her pro-Israel activism — including lost sponsorships and antisemitic threats and vitriol — she said recently, “It makes me double down and only fuels my commitment to keep fighting for Israel.”
Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, named Austin to its 2025 list of “18 American Zionist Women You Should Know.”
The annual list, now in its third year, comprises a diverse group of activists, nonprofit leaders, politicians, entertainers, business innovators, educators and writers. Each is deeply involved in advocating for Zionism and speaking up for Israel in the United States and around the world.
“Some of the women you may know —but all of them you should know,” said Diana Diner, the list’s curator and Hadassah’s Israel and Zionism educator. “These women are doing the critical work of educating and of advocating for Israel.”
Diner, who herself made last year’s list, added, “They may not look or sound alike, but they are united in showing the world what it means to be a Zionist in 2025.”
Mazi Pilip, an Ethiopian-born Israeli now living in New York, made battling antisemitism a focus of her winning political campaign for a seat in the Nassau County, New York, legislature. (Courtesy of Hadassah)
This year’s list includes:
- Anila Ali, a Muslim women’s-rights activist born in Pakistan and the co-founder of the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council.
- Bellamy Bellucci, a South African-born dancer, model and Israel advocate known for her unique identity as a Black transgender Jewish woman who uses social media to promote inclusivity.
- Patricia Heaton, an Emmy Award-winning actress (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) and devout Catholic who brings Christians together to support Jews and Israel through the October 7th Coalition, the group she co-founded after the 2023 Hamas attack.
- Caroline D’Amore, a TV personality who is the Italian-American founder and CEO of Pizza Girl. Despite not being Jewish herself, she has visited Israel several times since Oct. 7 and advocates to fight antisemitism and foster dialogue.
- Mazi Pilip, an Ethiopian-born former Israel Defense Forces paratrooper who made battling antisemitism a focus of her winning political campaign for a seat in the Nassau County, New York, legislature.
“What most people don’t understand is to be a Muslim is to be a Zionist,” said Ali, 57. “When I pray five times a day, several times in that prayer we ask God to bless us like the Jews and the Christians, like he blessed Abraham.”
At a 2024 event co-hosted with Hadassah at which Sheryl Sandberg’s film “Screams Before Silence,” a documentary about the sexual violence Hamas committed on Oct. 7, was screened, Ali spoke to an interfaith audience about the weaponization of sexual violence against Israeli women and girls.
“Truth is more powerful than anything,” she said. “I am honored and proud to be a Zionist.”
Another woman on this year’s list, Yocheved Kim Ruttenberg, grew up as a religious Jew but without Zionism, and over time became distanced from Jewish observance, too.
Then her brother joined the IDF. When the Oct. 7 attack happened, she dropped everything, quickly raised $17,000 for essential supplies for soldiers, and days later arrived in Israel with 23 duffel bags filled with such items as headlamps, socks and underwear.
“I just thought, ‘I have to go to Israel,’” said Ruttenberg, 24. “Even my mom said, ‘If you don’t go, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.’”
Her two-week trip lasted 18 months, and she eventually made aliyah, immigrating to Israel.
Recognizing the need to help all the other volunteers who were (and still are) arriving in Israel during wartime, eager to do their bit, Ruttenberg founded the Sword of Iron Israel Volunteer Corp., an online hub that has helped mobilize 40,000 people worldwide since Oct. 7.
“I pinch myself every day that I’m so lucky to be doing this work to strengthen the State of Israel,” she said. “I hope it inspires people to take action.”
Allison Korman was a longtime senior executive at the DC Abortion Fund when the Oct. 7 attack changed her professional life. Suddenly, she found herself isolated when colleagues posted one-sided anti-Israel messages on her organization’s social media accounts. Being the only Jewish and pro-Israel voice at the DC Abortion Fund quickly became untenable for Korman, and within weeks she resigned.
Anila Ali, a Muslim women’s-rights activist born in Pakistan, says she is proud to be a Zionist. (Courtesy of Hadassah)
But she wasn’t ready to leave the work of women’s public health. In June 2024, Korman launched the Red Tent Fund, an inclusive space rooted in Jewish values that serves people of all backgrounds who need access to reproductive care.
“It is Jewish values at work: We try to make the whole world better,” said Korman, 46. “If Jewish people get pulled too far away from this issue, the only people who’ll suffer are abortion seekers.”
Among the other remarkable women on this year’s list are Galia Amram, a lawyer and Jewish nonprofit leader; Suzanne Patt Benvenisti, a Hadassah executive who launched the organization’s Yellow Nail campaign in support of Israel’s hostages in Gaza; Stephanie Bonder, a sixth-generation Zionist, Jewish educator and communal leader; Hilary Hawn, a California-based community advocate, educator and writer; Michal Ilai, the senior Israel educator at Austin’s Jewish federation, Shalom Austin; Shoshana Keats Jaskoll, an American-Israeli writer and activist who co-founded Chochmat Nashim (The Wisdom of Women), which fights religious extremism and women’s marginalization; Esther Panitch, a lawyer and member of the Georgia House of Representatives, who co-sponsored a bill proposing the legislature adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism; Deborah Villanueva, a mental health professional, educator and Zionist activist; Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath, an award-winning Jewish author and the senior educator at The Jewish Education Project; and Elena Yacov, the executive director of the Milstein Family Foundation and a force in Jewish philanthropy.
“We take to heart our responsibility to empower those who are standing up for Israel,” said Carol Ann Schwartz, Hadassah’s national president. “Hadassah has fostered and promoted Zionist ideals for more than 100 years, and the vision of our founder Henrietta Szold lives on through us.”
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