Yuli Weizman in an Interview: "Even if I Grew Up in an Affluent Home, It Doesn't Mean I Don't Need to Work"
Yuli Weizman, daughter of famous parents, talks about life under the spotlight, working in a regular clothing store, family dynamics, and her upcoming IDF enlistment.
Launch events in the entertainment industry are usually a predictable sight: a red carpet, a branded wall, smiles for the camera, and scripted answers. But when Michal HaKtana and Nir Weizman are your parents, there is nothing predictable about the way public life mixes with the private.
The launch of the Bath & Body Works capsule collection in collaboration with Star Wars, dedicated to Grogu and the Mandalorian, provided an almost symbolic backdrop for a meeting with Yuli Weizman. Between lightsabers and a cape designed to match the set, the young social media star and influencer stood for an open conversation about life in the shadow of media storms, working in a clothing store despite the family wealth, the relationship she zealously keeps under the radar, and her upcoming enlistment in the IDF.
Yuli's presence at the event was not accidental, and the look was not half-hearted. "How hard it was to get this sword, listen! Suddenly you see, it's here in abundance. But everything is for Star Wars and the launch today. Even the cape I'm wearing," she explains with a smile, and adds a sense of nostalgia, "Today we are at the launch of Bath & Body Works together with Star Wars, full of action, oh my god how exciting! It really feels like the Disney era has returned to us." But beyond the glamour of the event, the conversation quickly drifts to the complex reality of someone born into a public profile.
Dealing with the headlines about the family home breaking up was not simple for the eldest daughter. Yuli describes a feeling of a situation that was forced upon her, "Listen, sometimes it wasn't simple. Sometimes you don't choose it, sometimes you discover personal and intimate things in prime time. Suddenly I see, 'Nir and Michal Weizman are getting divorced.' Sending it to the group, telling them: 'Mom, Dad, you are getting divorced and I don't know?' And sometimes you are forced into a situation, as they say. But you get used to it, and I grew up into it, and they taught me and explained to me when I was younger that sometimes this will happen, sometimes things will surprise us and we need to accept them. Like how I found out about my mom's new relationship from Instagram, and everyone saw it, and it wasn't easy, because I received a lot of reactions along with it."
The moment the news about the new relationship of her mother, Michal, with actor and singer Yehuda Bohbot was distributed, was well etched in her memory. It was not the age gap that was complex, but the very dramatic change in the family structure. "I found out about it during the interview itself. And it was very stressful, because I was very upset that I was finding out that my mom was in a relationship, first of all. It's not a matter of with whom, and what, and how much she is in a relationship. It took me a moment to digest that they would also get divorced, and it wasn't easy, because every child would want their parents to stay together, but first of all today I am in a place where I say, whatever is good for my parents, is good for me."
Inside the storm of reactions on social networks, Yuli found herself not only processing her feelings but also functioning as an anchor for her younger siblings. She was exposed to editing videos (edits) on social networks that portrayed her as suffering, but a conversation with her father, businessman Nir Weizman, showed how much the external perception can be different from the reality at home. "During that period, everything was very sensitive. At home, in my life, everything. We had to keep calm too, I especially as the eldest sister. But something funny - my dad sent me a message. They were putting edits on me that I was crying and that I was miserable because my mom was dating a man younger than her, my dad sent me, told me 'Yuli, I'm here by your side, everything is fine' and I said: 'Dad, what suddenly? Everything is fine!' And then he came and hugged me, and suddenly he actually thought it was an issue but everything is fine, everything is light. My dad is fine, we are fine with it, that's the most important thing." Today, the family dynamic has already found its new path, as Yuli tells of a shared and light routine that includes "an evening in Oved BaKfar, trips, restaurants."
Despite the affluent family background and the well-known lineage, Yuli is careful to build her life path with her own ten fingers. Her decision to work as a regular employee in a clothing store at the mall raised quite a few eyebrows from customers and parents who encountered her on her shift, but for her, it is a matter of principle. "Sure! Working at the simplest, most normal and fun job there is, with amazing people, I work in a clothing store. And people were very surprised by this, and parents literally came to me and said, 'What is this? Why is Nir and Michal's daughter working?' So be surprised, but even if I grew up in a very affluent home, it doesn't mean I don't need to work, and I was always taught to do everything on my own merit, and I also don't have time to deal with asking for pocket money and asking for help, and it's so important to me to be independent and be a 'Jedi' and prove how much I can. If I want to buy a car I will buy it, and know that I can do everything on my own merit and with my own ten fingers, like my parents did." And indeed, she has already translated this aspiration for independence into action when she bought a luxury vehicle on her own.
While her social networks have hundreds of thousands of followers watching her lifestyle content and daily blogs, she keeps the romantic corner of her life far from the spotlight. This decision comes from direct learning from the exposure she experienced at home. "True, and I always try to keep it under the radar, because I grew up in a house where everything is so flooded and polluted outside, so I said, okay, this is my private and small thing, I feel that this is best. And I think this is a win, he also doesn't like cameras, so everything is fine."
The next stage of her journey is about to happen just around the corner, with her upcoming enlistment in the IDF. The transition from high school and social networks to the military system brings with it excitement alongside natural concerns. "I'm enlisting in a month, I'm lost myself and don't know yet, and it's a bit stressful, but it's chapter two in life, from school to the army, and then I become an adult in every sense." This enlistment marks a significant transition station for her, one that requires a certain pause in her ongoing artistic activity, but her ambitions for the future remain clear and big.
When she looks at her professional future, Yuli sees the combination between the worlds of the stage and the business world, alongside an internal connection that has strengthened in the recent period. "Wow, I have a lot. And I know that singing was a very strong part of my life and television and this whole world, and I will first of all be ready for it and arrive at it prepared to the end. But partnerships, working with big companies on the agenda, and God willing." And when she is asked to look ten years ahead, the picture that clears up is primarily a picture of home and family. "Wow. I can say that I will be a mom, almost certainly God willing. I took from my mom the matter of children, I am obsessed with my younger siblings, really obsessed with them, and establishing a home in Israel is the most important thing to me in the world, first of all."
