Israel’s Shari Arison is 64th on Forbes’ list of 100 most powerful women

Heiress, businesswoman and philanthropist Shari Arison placed 64th on Forbes’ 2012 list of the world’s 100 most powerful women, which was released on Wednesday.

Forbes’ list includes politicians, businesswomen, journalists, writers and celebrities. Arison, who was raised in Israel and the United States, was #57 in last year’s rankings.

Jewish women who made the cut include New York Times Editor-in-Chief Jill Abramson at #5, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg at #10, Kraft Foods CEO Irene Rosenfeld at #13, SEC Chair Mary Schapiro at #65, Cable TV executive Bonnie Hammer at #73 and Rockefeller Foundation head Judith Rudin at #98.

Arison is both Israel’s and the Middle-East’s richest woman, with an estimated wealth of $3.9 billion, much of it from controlling interest in Carnival Cruse lines and Bank Hapoalim, which she inherited from her father, businessman Ted Arison. She also has substantial holdings in real estate, salt manufacturing, and water systems.

Among other philanthropic activities, Arison supports “Good Deeds Day,” an annual event encouraging the public to volunteer their time to make the world a better place. In 2011 she created Goodnet.org, a social network and media platform for “encouraging goodness.”

Leading the Forbes list was German Chancellor Angela Merkel, followed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and philanthropist Melinda Gates, wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

Arison was not the only Israeli-American on the list. Oracle CFO Safra Katz, who was born in Israel but moved to the US at age six, came in at #48.