Young Knesset members Ayelet Shaked from HaBayit HaYehudi and Stav Shaffir from the Zionist Camp are the quintessential symbols of the generational changes in Israeli politics, which have been undergoing deep change since the 2013 elections. The two women hail from opposite sides of the traditional political spectrum that extends from right to left: Shaked is a prominent figure in HaBayit HaYehudi (a religious party) and Shaffir, with Labor, is an icon of the rejuvenated social-democratic left. Nevertheless, the two have a lot in common when it comes to shaping the future political establishment.

In their parties’ primaries before the 2015 elections, Shaked and Shaffir had both worked their ways to the top, leaving older, more veteran political figures trailing behind. Shaked is not only the first slated woman of the HaBayit HaYehudi Knesset list and the first secular person to serve as a Knesset member of a religious party. She is also a candidate for a ministerial post in the next government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the one to assemble it and if he adds HaBayit HaYehudi to his coalition.

Shaffir also made history in big a way: She won second place in the Labor primaries, immediately behind former party chairwoman Shelly Yachimovich, and left the rest of the contestants, old and new, far behind. Her chances of becoming a minister in the next government currently seem a bit low, compared with Shaked's, but she is undoubtedly an influential, consciousness-shaping and agenda-setting political figure who attracts a young electorate. Both Shaffir and Shaked are very well-liked in their respective parties, maintaining popular Facebook pages, and are much sought-after for media interviews.

Shaked and Shaffir’s entrees into the Knesset in 2013 were largely the result of the 2011 social protest movement and the spirit of change it brought with it. Both women established and led extra-parliamentary movements before they were elected to the Knesset (Shaffir was one of the protest leaders and Shaked led the ''My Israel" movement) and already wielded influence on Israeli public life. One of the reasons for their success was the social network revolution, which made their messages and ideas accessible to hundreds of thousands of youths. Even before Netanyahu and the upper echelons of the political world discovered Facebook, Shaffir and Shaked already ruled the network.