Yoseph Haddad

Yoseph Haddad is an Arab-Israeli Orthodox Christian who was born in Haifa, Israel, and later moved to Nazareth with his family. His grandfather did not leave his land during the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight, and his family still owns land in Jish. His mother was a teacher and his father was a priest and civil aviator. Although Arabs are not required to serve in the IDF, Haddad joined in 2003. He has stated that his decision was influenced by the Maxim restaurant suicide bombing that killed 21 Israelis, including several Israeli Arabs. At his request, he was accepted into the Golani Brigade He is a disabled veteran who has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. == Career==

, April 2022. Haddad frequently travels internationally to speak in support of Israel and has worked with Reservists on Duty to advocate for Israel on university campuses in the US. Since 2020, Haddad has worked for i24NEWS. TheMarker, and Times of Israel blogs. In 2018, he established Together – Vouch for Each Other with the aim of working for the integration and connection of the Arab sector with Israeli society, and since then he has headed it and serves as the CEO of the association. As part of Together – Vouch for Each Other, he encourages and supports Israeli Arabs to volunteer for the IDF and national-civilian service. and the first Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in the United Arab Emirates in 2021. In 2022, the group traveled to Auschwitz to participate in the March of the Living. Later that year, author Sally Rooney announced that she would not allow an Israeli company to translate her book Beautiful World, Where Are You into Hebrew because of her support for the BDS movement. After Haddad organized a boycott campaign, two Israeli book sellers decided to stop selling her work.Since the beginning of the Gaza war, Haddad has become more widely known in Israel. He posts in multiple languages, including Hebrew, Arabic, and English. By March 2025, he had 850,000 followers on Instagram, most of whom followed him during the Gaza war. In one viral video from 2023, Haddad told pro-Palestinian students at Tel Aviv University to "go study in Jenin". He posted videos of himself eating baklava to celebrate the deaths of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. and that Palestinian singer Lina Makoul should lose her Israeli citizenship because she advertised her concert as taking place in "Haifa, Palestine". Haddad tweeted that he was removed from the debate because he objected to audience members' disrespect for the Israeli hostages. The proposition passed. He called the book "an opportunity to lay out my complete vision". In the book, he recounts the story of his life and his views on the Arab-Israeli conflict,'' The reviewer also argued that it is unlikely that Haddad will be able to help Jews and Arabs reconcile, given the Palestinian community's negative opinion of him. == Personal life ==

Haddad identifies as an Israeli Arab. In October 2024, Haddad was awarded 24,000 shekels after suing a left-wing Israeli activist for defamation. In July 2025, Haddad was arrested after firing a gun during a brawl with another man on a road in Jaffa. According to Haddad's lawyer, an Israeli Arab man recognized Haddad and attacked him due to "racism and hatred". The other man accused Haddad of starting the fight. rather than racism. == Views ==

Haddad opposes the BDS movement. He has written opinion pieces on the topic, including one where he argued that using the term to describe Israel diminishes and cheapens the suffering of Black South Africans who lived under apartheid for many years. In 2021, Haddad appeared before the Irish parliament to dispute Amnesty International's report alleging Israeli apartheid. Haddad's views are considered right wing. According to Haddad he gave interviews before the October 7 attacks where he warned that Israel was not doing enough to stop Hamas. He opposes the view that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and believes that Israel is "freeing the Middle East" and "saving the entire world". To create peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict, he advocates for changing the Palestinian education curriculum and that, in Israel, everyone should learn both Hebrew and Arabic. == Reception ==

at the University of Oxford, November 2024.Haddad has received recognition for his pro-Israel advocacy. Israel Hayom has said he is: "one of Israel's most vital representatives on the world stage and across social media", Haddad has been recognized on lists of pro-Israel influencers, including lists by The Jerusalem Post and the Jewish News Syndicate. Haddad received the Light of Israel prize from the Israeli Foreign Ministry in 2021 and the Begin Prize in 2022. In May 2024, he was selected to light a torch at the Israeli Independence Day celebration for his contributions to hasbara. The following month, Ariel University granted him an honorary degree for his "relentless efforts in combating anti-Semitism, fostering unity among diverse populations, and presenting Israel's true face to the world". According to his lawyers, he has received death threats and been physically attacked because of his pro-Israel advocacy. Haddad has stated that he has "been called much worse than a traitor". He stated that he had to be escorted off of Nottingham University campus for safety reasons. That August, he reported that some Israeli Arabs attacked him and his family on a flight from Dubai, injuring his mother and calling him "the traitor, the dog". In April 2024, a scheduled appearance by Haddad at Columbia University was canceled after he was allegedly assaulted by a protester. Haddad has been accused of contributing to misinformation during the Gaza war, including sharing the false claim that a photo of a dead Gazan child actually depicted a doll. The Palestinian community has criticized him According to Haaretz, his views are not reflective of the views of the majority of Palestinians in Israel. == References ==