Morris Kahn, 1930-
Kahn is a tech and media entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist, and one of Israel’s richest men. A native of South Africa, he immigrated to Israel in 1956. He founded Amdocs, the Aurec Group, Golden Pages and…
Daniel Kahneman, 1934-
Kahneman is an author and emeritus professor of behavioral psychology at Princeton who shared the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2002 for his work on prospect theory, which explores how people make decisions under…
Zvi Hirsch Kalischer, 1795-1874
Born in Prussia, Kalischer was an early proponent of the resettlement of the Land of Israel to strengthen the Jewish people. He contributed to Hebrew journals and wrote on the need for Diaspora Jews to…
Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh, 1984-
A lifelong resident of the Druze village of Daliyat al-Karmel, Kamal-Mreeh in 2017 became the first non-Jewish woman to anchor a Hebrew-language news program on Israeli television. In 2019, as part of Blue and White,…
Eliezer Kaplan, 1891-1952
A native of Minsk in present-day Belarus, Kaplan was an active Socialist Zionist before immigrating to Palestine in 1919. He served as the treasurer of the Jewish Agency and a member of the Zionist Executive…
Sayed Kashua, 1975-
Kashua is a Palestinian-Israeli author and columnist born in Tira in Israel’s Arab Triangle. He attended the prestigious Israel Arts and Science Academy boarding school in Jerusalem. Writing mostly in Hebrew about being an outsider…
Jacob Katz, 1904-1998
Awarded the Israel Prize in 1980, modern Israeli historian Katz was a leading figure in Jewish social studies as a Hebrew University professor. He used rabbinical sources for books such as 1970’s “Freemasons and Jews”…
Berl Katznelson, 1887-1944
Belarus-born Katznelson co-founded the Histadrut labor federation and advocated for labor unity to uplift Jewish workers and small landholders. Immigrating to the Land of Israel in 1909, Katznelson became involved in labor councils. He helped…
Isaiah “Si” Kenen, 1905-1988
Isaiah “Si” Kenen in 1951 founded the American Zionist Committee for Public Affairs, the predecessor of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Kenen’s organization provided a united pro-Israel voice in Washington and helped win…
Etgar Keret, 1967-
Born in Ramat Gan to Holocaust survivors from Poland, Keret is internationally renowned for quirky, darkly humorous short stories, novels and screenplays exploring such themes as love, death, morality and the meaning of life. His…
Noa Kirel, 2001-
Kirel is a pop star and actress of Mizrahi and Ashkenazi ancestry who is Israel’s 2023 Eurovision contestant. She released her first songs at 14. She won the MTV Europe Music Award for best Israeli…
Jeane Kirkpatrick, 1926-2006
Kirkpatrick was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Ronald Reagan. She built a close relationship with Israeli Ambassador Yehuda Blum and was as staunch in her support of Israel as she was…
Frederick “Frank” Kisch, 1888-1943
A British brigadier general, Kisch chaired the predecessor to the Jewish Agency, the Palestine Zionist Executive, from 1918 to 1921. Kisch was prolific in Jewish life in Mandate Palestine. He helped found the Palestine Philharmonic…
Ephraim Kishon, 1924-2005
A Holocaust survivor from Hungary, Kishon was a columnist, playwright and film director. His satirical work portrayed social and political issues, often focusing on the day-to-day struggles of regular people or on the state bureaucracy….
Henry Kissinger, 1923-2023
Kissinger was the national security adviser and secretary of state to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. He heavily influenced U.S. policy in the Middle East and made “shuttle diplomacy” famous after the October 1973…
Joseph Klausner, 1874-1958
A historian born in Lithuania who attended the First Zionist Congress and others, Klausner supported Ahad Ha’am’s cultural Zionism and succeeded Ha’am as the editor of Hashiloah. He immigrated in 1919 and became a Hebrew…
Howard Kohr, 1955-
Howard Kohr has served as the top executive of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee since 1996. Under Kohr, AIPAC has built support beyond the Jewish community. Its lobbying for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship has…
Israel Kolatt, 1927-2007
Kolatt was a professor of the New Yishuv at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Goldstein professor emeritus of the history of Zionism. His books and articles address such topics as the organization…
Teddy Kollek, 1911-2007
Kollek was Jerusalem’s mayor from 1965 to 1993 and, after the city’s 1967 reunification, helped develop it into a modern metropolis with a vision for coexistence and religious protection. Born in Hungary, he was named…
Abraham Isaac Kook, 1865-1935
Kook was born in Latvia and was one of the fathers of Religious Zionism. As a rabbi in London, he rallied popular support for the Balfour Declaration. After he immigrated to Palestine in 1919, Kook…
