Ahmad Tibi facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ahmad Tibi
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أحمد الطيبي
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| Faction represented in the Knesset | |
| 1999 | Balad |
| 1999–2015 | Ta'al |
| 2015–2019 | Joint List |
| 2019 | Ta'al |
| 2019– | Joint List |
| Other positions | |
| 2006–2019 | Deputy Speaker of the Knesset |
| 2019– | Deputy Speaker of the Knesset |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 December 1958 Tayibe, Israel |
Ahmad Tibi (born 19 December 1958) is a Palestinian-Israeli politician. He leads the Ta'al political party. Since 1999, he has been a member of the Knesset, which is Israel's parliament.
Before becoming a Knesset member, Tibi was a political advisor. He worked for the Palestinian president Yasser Arafat from 1993 to 1999. Tibi is also a trained doctor, specializing in gynecology. He studied medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
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Early Life and Education
Tibi was born in 1958 in Tayibe, a town in Israel. His father, Kamal Tibi, was born in Jaffa.
Tibi studied medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He finished his studies with high honors in 1983. He then started working as a gynecologist at Hadassah Hospital in 1984.
Starting in Politics
While studying, Ahmad Tibi also became interested in politics. In the 1980s, he met important Palestinian activists. He attended meetings of the PLO around the world.
In 1984, he met Yasser Arafat in Tunis. At that time, meeting PLO members was not allowed in Israel. Because of his political activities, Tibi was questioned by police several times. He was also stopped from leaving Israel once and arrested another time.
Working with Yasser Arafat
From 1993 to 1999, Tibi was a political advisor to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. He helped represent Palestinians in important talks, like the 1998 Wye River negotiations.
Tibi said his relationship with Arafat was "close" and very important to him. He left this job in 1999 because he decided to run for a seat in the Knesset.
Becoming a Knesset Member
Ahmad Tibi was first elected to the Knesset in 1999. He started his own party, Ta'al, and ran together with Azmi Bishara's Balad party. However, he later separated from Balad during the same Knesset term.
Some politicians tried to prevent Tibi from running for office again in 2003. They argued against his past as an advisor to Arafat. However, the Supreme Court of Israel disagreed with these arguments. The court allowed Tibi to run, and he was elected as part of a joint list.
Before the 2006 elections, Tibi's Ta'al party joined the United Arab List (UAL). After winning his seat again, he became a Deputy Speaker of the Knesset. He was re-elected on the joint UAL–Ta'al list in the 2009 and 2013 elections.
Achievements in Parliament
Ahmad Tibi is known as an effective parliament member. He speaks up for Palestinians living in Israel and other areas. He was the first Arab Knesset member to successfully pass a law on his own. This law, passed in 2012, set rules for airlines to pay customers for delayed or cancelled flights.
In 2008, he helped create a special committee. This committee looked into how Arabs were employed in public jobs. He led this committee until 2012. Media surveys have often shown him as the most popular Arab member of the Knesset. Parliamentary reporters have also called him the best public speaker in the Knesset. As of July 2025, Tibi continues to serve as Deputy Speaker. He is also the Chairman of the UAL-Ta'al Parliamentary Group. He is a member of the House Committee and the Finance Committee.
Political Views
Tibi supports a "two-state solution." This means he believes there should be two states, Israel and a Palestinian state, living side-by-side. He thinks Israel should withdraw to the borders that existed before 1967.
He also believes Israel should be a "state of all its citizens." This means he thinks Israel should treat all its citizens equally, no matter their background. He supports removing symbols that show a special status for the Jewish majority. These include the Law of Return, the flag, and the national anthem. He does not support Arab citizens of Israel joining the IDF.
Tibi also supports the Palestinian right of return. This means he believes Palestinian refugees should have the right to return to their homes. However, he has said that he thinks only a small number of refugees would actually choose to move to Israel. In 2018, he spoke against the decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem.
During the April 2019 Israeli elections, Benjamin Netanyahu used the slogan "It's either Bibi or Tibi." This phrase was criticized by Tibi and others. They felt it played on fears about Arab involvement in Israeli politics.
See also
- List of Arab members of the Knesset
