Mickey Gitzin (born 1980/1981) [1] is an Israeli peace activist and current executive director of the New Israel Fund, and director of its Tel Aviv branch. [2]
Gitzin was born to secular Russian-speaking Jewish parents who immigrated to Israel from the Soviet Union in the late 1970s. [1] They settled in the Dalet neighborhood of Beersheba, but Gitzin was born in Azor, where he was raised in a public housing apartment. [1] [3] His parents and grandmother raised him and his sister with Soviet Russian influences and right-wing politics. [1]
At age 13, he began keeping kosher fully to fit in with his peers, and as a form of rebellion against his parents. [1] [3]
Gitzin was active in his school's student government, becoming president of the student council. [1] He also became involved with right-wing politics; during the 1992 elections, he handed out Likud flyers. [1] However, he soon became involved with left-wing politics as part of a teenage rebellion against his parents. [1]
Gitzin graduated from Hebrew University, and attended University College London on a scholarship for a master's degree in public policy. [1] [3]
Gitzin served in the Intelligence Directorate for his mandatory service in the Israeli Defense Forces, during which time he continued to develop his left-wing politics. [1] After his service was completed, he became a Jewish Agency shaliach to an American Jewish community in South Bend, Indiana, [3] where he was reassured that his secular beliefs were not in conflict with his Jewish worldview. [1]
Upon returning to Israel after working in the United States, Gitzin was hired to establish Be Free Israel, a coalition of left-wing organizations active in religious and state matters. [1] [4]
In 2012, Gitzin protested draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Israelis. [5]
In 2015 and 2016, Gitzin was a member of the Tel Aviv Municipal Council. [6] [7]
In late 2017, Gitzin became executive director of the New Israel Fund. [1]
In 2018, Gitzin's criticism of the Israeli government drew scrutiny on social media from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. [8]
In January 2023, Gitzin called the proposed Israeli judicial reforms "an attack on all of democracy". [9]
Gitzin has written for Haaretz [10] and Ynet. [11]
While working in the United States, Gitzin began dating a Catholic American woman. [1] She returned with him to Israel, and they lived together for three years before separating, after which Gitzin came out as gay. [1] Gitzin has been with his current partner since the early 2010s, with the two living in Tel Aviv. [1] [3]
As of 2016, Gitzin was a member of the Meretz Party. [7]