Mansour Abbas, 1974-
Abbas is a dentist who lives in the Galilee town of Maghar. Since 2019, he has served in the Knesset as the head of the Islamist party Ra’am. After Ra’am broke from the Joint List…
Yigal Allon, 1918-1980
Allon led the Palmach and was an IDF major general who oversaw the Southern Command. He served in the Knesset from 1955 until his death. After the 1967 war, he proposed returning the West Bank…
Shulamit Aloni, 1928-2014
Founder of the Meretz party, Aloni was known for advocating for peace and for human and civil rights, especially as a voice for women and against Orthodox control of society. She fought in the Palmach…
Naftali Bennett, 1972-
Israel’s 13th prime minister, Bennett was born in Haifa to U.S. immigrants. He was an IDF Sayeret Matkal commando and a software entrepreneur. He became the leader of the settler-supported Jewish Home party in 2012…
Dalia Itzik, 1952-
The first female speaker of the Knesset from 2006 to 2009, Itzik was a teacher who began her political career as the chair of the Jerusalem Teachers Union for five years. She was elected to…
Avigdor Liberman, 1958-
A two-time foreign minister, Liberman was the finance minister in the coalition formed in June 2021. Born in Moldova, Liberman arrived in Israel in 1978. He worked closely with Benjamin Netanyahu before splitting with him…
Pinhas Sapir, 1906-1975
Labor Party politician Sapir played a vital role in the development of the Israeli economy. Born in Poland as Pinhas Kozlowski, he immigrated to the Land of Israel in 1929. He served in the Cabinet…
Natan Sharansky, 1948-
Sharansky, a physicist and writer, was a Soviet refusenik imprisoned in a Siberian labor camp from 1977 to 1986. Upon his release, he joined his wife, Avital, in Israel. He became an activist for immigrant…
Zerach Warhaftig, 1906-2002
Belarus-born Warhaftig persuaded Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara to issue 3,500 visas for Jews fleeing Lithuania at the start of World War II, then escaped to Canada via Japan. He reached the Land of Israel in…
Yigael Yadin, 1917-1984
Yadin was a military commander and an archaeologist. He led the Negev campaign against the Egyptians in the War of Independence and served as the second IDF chief of staff from 1949 to 1952. He…
