Palestinian lawyer and politician from the occupied interior (Palestinian 48). It occupies the membership of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) and heads the “Arab Front for Change” coalition. He was famous for his positions condemning the policies of the Israeli occupation, especially during the extermination war that he launched against the Gaza Strip after the Al -Aqsa Flood operation launched by the Palestinian resistance on October 7, 2023.
His positions made him vulnerable to a campaign of widespread criticism by Israeli circles, and repeated attempts to isolate him from the Knesset.
Generator
Ayman Adel Odeh was born on January 1, 1975 in the Al -Kababir neighborhood (north of the city of Haifa) in occupied Palestine, to a Muslim Muslim family. His father was a building worker and his mother is a housewife.
He mastered 4 languages and speaks fluently: Arabic, Hebrew, English and Roman.
In 2005, he married the doctor and political activist Narden Asla, and he has 3 children.
Study and composition
He ended the return of his basic education in a Christian school in Haifa, and during the secondary stage he became a prominent activist, and he was elected head of the school students council, which made him vulnerable to the prosecutions of the Israeli Internal Security Service (the Shin Bet) because of his early political activity.
He later joined the University of “Mihai Eminsku” in Romania, obtained a Bachelor’s degree in law in 1997, and participated during his years of study in solidarity marches with the Palestinian people and opposed to the Israeli occupation.
After returning to Israel, the return of the legal profession began, and in 2001 he obtained an official license to practice the law.
Political experience
He occupied a return between 1998 and 2003, membership of the Municipal Council in the city of Haifa, representing the Democratic Front and Equality Front bloc, which the Israeli Communist Party is its backbone. During this period, a solid defender on the rights of Arab citizens (Palestinian) and marginalized classes emerged.
He founded a return while assuming the membership of the council, a youth movement belonging to the front (Haddash), and was active in strengthening the national and cultural identity of the Palestinians of the occupied interior. The Israeli police arrested him several times because of his political activity, and he faced repeated harassment by Israeli activists.
Among his most prominent initiatives at that stage is the launch of Arab names on the streets of a number of Palestinian villages and cities inside the Green Line, as well as his call to establish a national fund for the Palestinians in Israel, similar to the “Jewish National Fund”.
In the period between 2003 and 2006, he assumed the management of projects at the “Sikoy” association concerned with enhancing equality between the Palestinians and Jews inside Israel, and also held the membership of the administrative body of the Mahmoud Darwish Museum and its heritage.
In 2006, he was elected Secretary -General of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, and in 2010 he chaired the Civil Service Committee emanating from the High Follow -up Committee of the Interior Palestinians.
He returned to the first attempts to run to the Knesset in the 2009 elections, but it came 75th on the party’s list, then ranked sixth in the 2013 elections without succeeding in entering the Knesset.
The year 2015 witnessed a turning point in his career, as he was elected head of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, and later led the “joint Arab list” in the 20 Knesset elections, and won a parliamentary seat. He continued to head the list until 2022, and became one of the most prominent political faces of the Palestinians inside.
Prominent political positions
Odeh was famous for his boldness in defending the rights of the Palestinians within the Green Line, especially the children of the Palestinian interior (Palestinian 48) and adopted decisive positions in the face of discrimination policies, and categorically rejected the recruitment of Palestinians in the Israeli army or integrating them in what is known as “alternative civil service”.
In parallel, it was one of those calling for strengthening the political and social partnership between the Palestinians and the Democratic Jews, within the framework of a vision based on justice and equality. He also called for the establishment of a full sovereign and independent Palestinian state.
In 2009, he moved to reside in the occupied Negev region for a full month, in solidarity with its residents in the face of the displacement and uprooting policies practiced by the Israeli authorities.
During that period, he visited all the “unrecognized” villages, headed by the village of Al -Araqib, and his field presence in these villages was a reason for his arrest repeatedly, against the background of his participation in confronting the demolitions.
In 2023, he opposed the return of the genocide war that Israel launched against the Gaza Strip after the “Al -Aqsa Flood” operation launched by the Palestinian resistance on October 7, 2023.
Israeli attack
Since entering the Knesset in 2015, he has faced the return of a continuous incitement and attack by a number of Israeli politicians, most notably the leader of the “Israel Our Home” party, Avigdor Lieberman.
In March of the same year, Lieberman publicly attacked him by saying, “You are a Palestinian citizen, and you are not welcomed in Israel” to respond to a return with a wide echo “I am part of nature, from the environment, from the landscape, was born here, while you came immigrant to the Soviet Union.”
On February 11, 2016, the Israeli police arrested an extremist right -wing activist after he had killed killing to return, against the backdrop of his political stances supporting the Palestinian issue, which he expressed on social media.
On January 18, 2017, he was slightly wounded while the Israeli police stormed the village of Umm Al -Hiran in the occupied Negev.
On May 20, 2018, Lieberman returned to attack him again after participating in a solidarity demonstration with Gaza. In the same context, the Israeli police submitted an official complaint against Odeh, against the backdrop of a visit to Jaafar Farah, director of the “Equality” Center at the “Bani Zion” hospital in Haifa.
The police claimed that the return of refusing to obey the instructions of its elements and insult them, and a video showing him describing it as “valueless”. For its part, the joint list confirmed that the police officers ignored the parliamentary immunity of return, and acted with him with “rude”.
On July 19, 2025, a return was subjected to a direct attack while he was inside his car when a group of settlers attacked his vehicle with sticks and stones.
After the accident, Odeh wrote on the communication sites, “The police have completely colluded with the fascists who followed me, and did not move my protection.”
Revolution attempts by the Knesset
On May 31, 2025, MP Awda participated in a massive demonstration in the city of Haifa, organized by the “Peace Partnership” coalition in protest against the extermination war in the Gaza Strip. During his speech in front of the crowd, he stated that “Gaza will win”, which sparked a widespread Israeli attack.
After only 5 days, the Knesset member of the “Likud” party, Avichai, took out a petition calling for isolation from the Knesset, and it carried the signature of 70 deputies.
The petition was based on a law that allows the dismissal of the Knesset members if they committed a “incitement to racism” or “in support of an armed opposition against the State of Israel,” noting a publication to a return on the communication sites in January 2025 in which the occupation condemned.
Commenting on the campaign, Odeh stressed that his statements “represent the deep human conscience”, stressing that he enjoys the “overwhelming majority of the people of the world.”
On June 24, 2025, deliberations of a special committee were opened to consider the exclusion of a return from the Knesset. During the session, MP Over Katz of the Likud party launched a sharp attack on it, describing it as “the eighth front of the State of Israel” and said, “While the soldiers are fighting on 7 fronts, we have to purify the eighth front.”
In the same context, Lieberman restored his attack on Odeh, saying that his place is not in the Knesset but “in the Hamas parliament or with the Houthis.”
On the other hand, it was a return with remarkable international and local support. On June 13, 2025, US Congress member Bernie Sanders wrote on the X platform, “My colleagues and I strongly condemn the efforts to expel Ayman Odeh from the Knesset, a step targeting his courageous calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.”
“Thank you, my dear friend Bernie, to our common values.”
He also signed more than 150 academics from the colleges of rights and political sciences in Israeli universities and colleges, a wide range of opposition heads, which rejects his removal attempts. In parallel, a massive demonstration was organized in front of the Knesset, in support of his return and the rejection of what was considered a sequel to the political voices against war.
On June 30, the supporters of the isolation law managed to pass his draft of the competent committee, and was approved by a majority of 14 votes for two opposition votes. It was supported by prominent parliamentary blocs, including “There is a future”, “State Camp”, and “Israel is our home”.
However, the law failed to reach the legal quorum within the plenary session of the Knesset two weeks later, and the initiators were unable to mobilize the ninety votes required out of 120 members, which failed the efforts to isolate the return of return.
After this failure, he issued a statement in which he said, “With great pride, I can say: The fascists failed. They failed for one reason: you, the people. They tried to silence us, but our voices were higher.”
“We have no choice but to persevere in our positions. Thus, only we really protect our people with a long struggle: expanding the space of freedom of expression. Our positions are national and human, and their positions are racist and fascist.”
On the other hand, the right -wing camp continued to incite Odeh. Heritage Minister Amihai Eliaho tweeted, “Even if we do not succeed today to remove the terrorist who wears a suit, we are still advancing towards victory.”
Literature
The Odeh in 2011 published a book entitled “The Front is now particularly” and directed it to the youth category, and in 2006 – during his membership period in the Haifa municipality – he had composed two awareness booklets: the first entitled “Your Municipal Rights” and the second “is an answer to every question in the municipal taxes and construction licenses.”
Prizes and medals
- It was chosen by the American magazine “Foreign Policy” in the list of the best 100 pioneering global thinkers for the year 2015.
- The Israeli economic newspaper “The Marker” was included in the list of the 100 best influential figures for 2016 and 2017.
- In 2019, the American magazine “Time” ranked it among the list of 100 promising characters in the world.
(Tagstotranslate) Encyclopedia (T) Israel (T) Middle East (T) Arabic (T) Palestine