Amichai Chikli

Chikli was born in Jerusalem in 1981 to Rabbi Eitan Chikli and artist Camille Chikli, who had emigrated from France. The family lived in Kibbutz Hanaton, the only kibbutz founded by the Masorti movement. After completing high school he spent a year in Ma'ayan Baruch attending the Social Leadership Institute. He subsequently studied for a bachelor's degree in security and Middle Eastern studies at the Tactical Command Academy, after which he became a company commander in the Egoz Unit. After leaving the army he began studying for a master's degree in diplomacy and security at Tel Aviv University. During his studies he established the Tavor Academy for Social Leadership in Nazareth Illit in 2010. ==Political career==

Entering politics, Chikli was ninth on the New Right list for the April 2019 elections, but the party failed to win a seat. He was then fifth on the Yamina list, In July 2021, he voted against the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law that would prevent Palestinians from marrying Israelis and receiving citizenship, resulting in its failure to pass in a 59–59 tie vote. Chikli voted against his party a total of 754 times, regularly assisting the opposition. On 25 April 2022, a Knesset committee voted 7–0 in favour of a request from Yamina to declare him a "retiree", meaning he could only run for the Knesset as part of a new party. Chikli was only the third Knesset member to be declared a retiree. Judge Yitzhak Amit, chairman of the Central Election Committee, initially disqualified Chikli from running on the Likud list based on the allegation that Chikli violated election law in resigning from the Knesset only a few months after announcing his withdrawal from his party. Likud appealed to the Supreme Court, which overturned his disqualification on 9 October. He was subsequently elected to the Knesset and sworn in on 29 December, before resigning on 17 January 2023 under the Norwegian Law after being named Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism. He served concurrently as Minister for Social Equality from 2022 to 2024. He resigned from the Social Equality ministry in January 2024 in an effort cut government spending amid the Gaza war. On 16 January 2025 he vowed to resign from the government over a deal between Israel and Hamas to end the hostage crisis. He has insisted that Israel maintain a presence on the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border or return to fight and achieve the goals of the war. Diaspora Affairs Minister As part of his position, he met leaders and rabbis in the diaspora from the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox communities. He met Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism in the United States. He also met leaders of the Orthodox Union, the Jewish Federations of North America and Agudath Israel of America. He announced that diaspora Jewry would be involved in any process to revise the law and that he supports compromise. In 2023 Chikli launched a new initiative, Project Aleph Bet in collaboration with the Jewish Federations of North America to invest $40 million in the training of North American Jewish day school teachers. His ministry also launched the UnitED program, used by 650 Jewish day schools around the world. The program aims to strengthen Jewish identity, increase literacy regarding Israel and Zionism, build resilience amid anti-semitism and bring participants closer to their diaspora Jewish communities. Since the October 7 attacks in 2023, his ministry has sent twelve delegations of the families of the Israeli hostages in Gaza to countries around the world. His ministry also led over 100 civil initiatives since the attacks, allocating tens of millions of shekels to projects such as the Nova music festival exhibition, The Moment Music Stood Still. The touring exhibition in the United States memorializes the memory of the victims of the Nova music festival massacre. The exhibition attracted over 100, 000 visitors per month in New York. In October 2023 he also condemned Itamar Ben-Gvir, who had urged the Israeli Police to be prepared for widespread Arab Israeli unrest after 7 October. Chikli reiterated that “so far, the Arab population has shown much solidarity and responsibility.” He continued: "And this is especially true for the Bedouin population in the Negev, which has suffered victims and missing people and is displaying responsibility and solidarity with quite a few initiatives for hosting families and helping distressed citizens." Chikli also supports the hasbara efforts of former government spokesperson Eylon Levy. Levy's State of the Nation podcast, in which he interviews guests about Israel, antisemitism, and Jewish history, is partly funded by Chikli's ministry. In May 2024 the Israeli government approved Chikli's proposal to memorialize non-Israeli Jews in the diaspora that were murdered by perpetrators that had anti-Semitic motives. In June 2024 he was interviewed by The Jerusalem Post Editor-in-Chief, Zvika Klein at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York. On rising rates of antisemitism in the diaspora, Chikli reiterated his ministry's mission to support the safety of diaspora communities, monitor antisemitism and investigate student organizations hostile to Israel. In August 2024, his ministry launched a new monitoring system, the National Command Post (“Mashlat”) to track online antisemitic discourse. In January 2025 he was targeted by far right commentator, Candace Owens over an upcoming TikTok ban in the United States. Owens shared a conspiracy theory that Israel is responsible for the ban, sharing a clip of Chikli discussing his efforts to lobby TikTok to curb antisemitism on the platform. ==Views and opinions==

In 2021 he distanced himself from any denominational affiliation: "I define myself as a Jew, without any additional [descriptors]." He criticized negative attitudes towards Conservative Judaism in Israel, arguing that the movement is "bound by halacha" and that the movement's egalitarian prayer should not warrant vitriol. Egalitarian prayer is part of the practice of Conservative and Reform Jews. At the same he expressed political criticism towards the Reform Judaism movement in Israel for what he perceives as the movement's characterization of settlers as "violent". Chikli was asked about Reform Jews at the Betar World Conference in Jerusalem in January 2023, he responded "we will back any Jew regardless of their backgrounds and beliefs." His father, Eitan Chikli, a Conservative rabbi has spoken of his son's "openness and "tolerance of inclusion" towards different streams of Judaism, that was informed by his upbringing. In a June 2022 interview with The Jerusalem Post, he expressed concern at the treatment of Jewish participants at a gay pride rally in Chicago when they were excluded from the rally for bringing a flag that combined both the pride and Israeli flags. Earlier in the year he criticized a Haredi rabbi on Twitter after the rabbi had condemned Amir Ohana, the openly-gay Knesset speaker. Chikli responded: "There is no disease more dangerous than baseless hatred." In a February 2023 interview he characterized the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as the most "antisemitic movement on the face of earth." In 2023 Chikli stated that the Palestinian Authority is a "neo-Nazi entity" and anti-semitic and that it was necessary to "examine alternatives to its existence". In May 2023, he faced criticism for defending Elon Musk. Musk had written tweets about Jewish philanthropist George Soros that were condemned for having anti-Semitic overtones by the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Anti-Defamation League. Chikli accused Soros of "[financing] the most hostile organizations to the Jewish people and the state of Israel". In June 2023 he was criticized on Twitter (X) by left-wing Jewish organization J Street. Chikli responded by condemning the group as a "hostile organization that harms the interests of the state of Israel". He characterized J Street's support for the Iran Nuclear Deal as being against Israel's interests. In October 2024 his ministry published a report on antisemitism in Canada since the 7 October attacks. In December 2024, he criticized Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau for being the only G7 leader to not have visited Israel since the 7 October attacks. Chikli also expressed grave concern at the attacks on Jewish schools and synagogues in Toronto and Montreal. On Twitter (X) he wrote: "Canada is no longer safe for Jews". Canadian Jewish MP Anthony Housefather agreed that antisemitism is increasing but that Canada "has been and remains one of the best places in the world for Jews to live." Chikli expressed criticism towards university leaders: "I have no expectations from the leadership of these universities." In December 2024 he supported an independent Kurdistan and called for the expulsion of Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from NATO. In December 2024 he praised the Swedish government for its decision to stop funding UNRWA, adding that the aid organization “has lost its legitimacy to exist” amid the involvement of staff members in terror activities. In the same month he criticized Pope Francis over a Vatican nativity scene display that featured a keffiyeh. Ties to European far-right parties Chikli has ties to various far-right European political parties. Chikli has said that “Antisemitism is a growing problem in Europe due to Muslim immigration. The European right wing parties have a point, because they realize the problem and are presenting a solution… They understand the challenge of radical Islam and they are willing to take the necessary steps.” Chikli has praised the leadership of Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, saying that "It is Hungary's robust conservative leadership that ensures Jews can walk through the streets safely, unlike in other European capitals, where, notably in London, Jews require armored vehicles for safe passage. Hungary is today the safest country for Jews in Europe who do not need armed fighters at the entrance of their institutions, thanks to responsible immigration policy." Chikli has defended Orban from accusations of antisemitism. Chikli spoke at CPAC Hungary, where he again praised Orban. Chikli spoke alongside Tom Van Grieken, the leader of Belgian Vlaams Belang, who has endorsed the Great Replacement Theory. Chikli further spoke at a conference hosted by Vox, a Spanish political party with links to Neo-Nazis. In July 2024 Haaretz accused Chikli of actively supporting Marine le Pen, the French nationalist leader, after he made comments on Kan radio that she would be "excellent for Israel" for her "firm stance" against Hamas, the International Criminal Court, and antisemitism. In March 2025 Chikli organized an international conference on antisemitism, hosted in Jerusalem, to which he invited several politicians belonging to far-right European parties. Jordan Bardella of France’s National Rally, Hermann Tertsch of Vox and members of the Swedish Democrats all spoke at the conference. Israeli President Isaac Herzog and several Jewish leaders declined to attend the conference due to the far-right invitees belonging to political parties with a history of antisemitism. Benjamin Netanyahu, however, spoke at the conference. When Robinson arrived in Israel, Chikli escorted Robinson to multiple locales. Robinson and Chikli met with anti-immigration activist Sheffi Paz. A Knesset committee ordered Chikli to apologize to British Jews for inviting Robinson. ==Personal life==

He is married to Hadas, a school psychologist in Nahalal, with whom he has three children. ==References==