Dear friends,
This website is an important link in our connection with you. It allows us to present the diversity of our activities in the different fields that we are advancing. In particular it involves you by giving you a forum to present your own ideas, reactions and initiatives.
A few words about myself; born in Rishon-Le-Tzion, I’ve been living in Tel-Aviv for many years now. As a child and teenager I was an active member of the "Tzofim" scouts youth movement. I served in the military for four years, including an additional year to the mandatory 3 year service. My career as a journalist began in 1983 as a military reporter and afterwards as the foreign desk editor at the "Galei Tzahal" IDF radio station. Subsequently I worked as the Foreign desk news editor at "Hadashot" and "Haaretz" newspapers, "Haaretz" envoy to Paris and Washington and finally as head of the Foreign desk of Channel 10 News. During my work at Channel 10, I directed a few documentaries – the most ambitious and well-known was a documentary series called: "World: The Next Generation" which examined key global phenomena in the years to come. I have a L.L.B. degree from Tel-Aviv University and have interned at the Tel-Aviv District Attorney’s office . I’m a member of the Israeli Bar Association since year 1992.
For many years, until I got elected to the Knesset, I have been a board member of The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) which is the largest and most important human-rights NGO in Israel. I was also active in social and environmental organizations such as the "Heschel" centre, "Sustainable transportation" and more. In 2007 I won the "Pratt" prize for covering environmental issues in the media. Also, long before entering politics, I have been active in numerous organizations and activities of the Israeli LGBT community.
This is my first term in the Knesset, as member of the "Meretz" party. I am the Chairman of the Knesset Committee for Foreign Workers and an active member of the Committee for Internal Affairs and the Committee for the Environment. In addition to that, I founded five Knesset caucuses that cover most of my political activities and goals. Some of those caucuses (or "lobbies" as we call them in the Knesset) are among the biggest and most active in the Knesset. On this site you can find information about each one of them:
* Social-Environmental Action – for social justice and sustainability
* Civil Equality and Religious Pluralism – fighting religious coercion and promoting equality among all sectors of Israeli society.
* Arts and Culture – Supporting Israel's diverse culture, and ensuring artists' rights and welfare.
* Saving the Dead Sea – protecting one of Israel's most significant natural treasures and an acclaimed World Wonder; preventing the deterioration of the shrinking northern basin and dealing with the floods in the southern basin.
* Fighting Homophobia – promoting educational and public actions for tolerance and against any sort of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
At the Knesset I am working with a dedicated team, led by my parliamentary assistants Dana Caduri and Guy Levi, assisted by volunteers from across the country. Together we work in order to bring about a social change inIsrael; creating a fair, open and democratic society, to be truly "free" in our state.
I invite you to respond, ask and especially suggest and initiate. I find it important to mention that a great deal of our bills and public activities derive from your ideas and proposals.
By the way, as a matter of interest, the people in the picture with me are veterans I met in the Knesset at the ceremony marking Victory day over the Nazis, which for me is one of the most important days on the calendar. These people do not have any practical connection to our activity. I just cherish and appreciate veterans: these are the people who saved my family in Europe, and for me they are the greatest heroes of us all.
Keep in touch, Nitzan and the team.