100 Notable alumni of Tel Aviv University

Ghil'ad Zuckermann is an Israeli language revivalist and linguist who works in contact linguistics, lexicology and the study of language, culture and identity.

Raviv Drucker is an Israeli journalist, political commentator and investigative reporter.

Sivan Rahav-Meir is an Israeli journalist and television and radio news reporter.

Michal Herzog is an Israeli lawyer who has served as First Lady of Israel since 2021 as the wife of President Isaac Herzog.

Haim Ramon is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1983 and 2009, and as both Vice Prime Minister and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office with responsibility for state policy.

David Hai Bitan is an Israeli lawyer and politician. He currently serves as a member of the Knesset from the Likud party. During 2016 and 2017 he served as the Chairman of the Coalition and Chairman of the Likud party in the Knesset, and in the 23rd Knesset served as Chairman of the Immigration and Absorption Committee. Israeli attorney general...

Amnon Shashua is an Israeli computer scientist, businessman and philanthropist. He is the Sachs Professor of Computer Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the autonomous driving and driver-assistance technology company Mobileye, Co-founder of the artificial vision devices company OrCam, Founder and owner of ONE ZERO digital bank, chairman of artificial intelligence company...

Joseph "Yossi" Beilin is an Israeli politician who has served in multiple ministerial and leadership positions in the Israeli government. Much of his political career was in the Labour Party. He also served as chairman of the Meretz-Yachad political party. After retiring from political life, Beilin founded 'Beilink', a business consultancy company. He also writes opinion pieces in Israeli papers...

Ya'akov Peri is a former head of the Israeli security agency Shin Bet and formerly a member of the Knesset for Yesh Atid. He headed Shin Bet between 1988 and 1994. He was the first Shin Bet head born in Israel. After his service with Shin Bet he entered the business world. He became an MK in 2013 and was...

Hagai Levi is an Israeli television creator, writer, director, and producer.

Isaac Florentine is an Israeli film director. He is best known for his martial arts and action genre films, namely Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006), Undisputed III: Redemption (2010), Ninja (2009), Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013) and Close Range (2015) and for launching the career of British actor Scott Adkins. Florentine completed his degree in Film & Television...

Idan Roll is an Israeli politician, model and lawyer who served as a member of the Knesset in several spells between 2019 and 2025, first as a member of Yesh Atid and then as an independent member.

Omer Bartov is an Israeli-American historian. He is the Dean's Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, where he has taught since 2000. Bartov is a historian of the Holocaust and is considered a leading authority on genocide.

Sandra Sade-Moshonov is an Israeli film, television and theater actress.

Yoel Strick is an Israeli Major General (Aluf) in the IDF reserves and formerly commanded the Ground Forces Command.

Rina Mor-Goder is an Israeli lawyer, writer and beauty queen who was crowned Miss Universe 1976.

Ayala Hasson is an Israeli journalist. She is a television and radio presenter at the Israel Broadcasting Corporation. She spent most of her journalistic career at the Israel Broadcasting Authority, where she served as a reporter and commentator, presented HaKol Diburim ("All Talk") on Kol Israel and the Yoman ("Journal") edition on Channel 1, and was the first woman to...

Gadi Taub is an Israeli right-wing pundit and political commentator. He is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Public Policy and the Department of Communications at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Taub is also an internationally recognized voice in the discourse on Zionism.

Roni Alsheikh is an Israeli former intelligence officer and head of the Israel Police. After serving as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces, Alsheikh joined Shin Bet and rose to become its deputy head before being appointed General Commissioner of the Israel Police, serving in the role from 2015 to 2018.

Ayoob Kara is an Israeli Druze politician. He has served as a member of the Knesset for Likud in four terms between 1999 and 2021, and as Minister of Communications.

Michal Yannai-Muskal is an Israeli actress and children's television host.

Alma Zack is an Israeli actress.

Ilana Dayan-Orbach is an Israeli investigative journalist, anchorwoman, and attorney. She is best known as host of the investigative television program Uvda ("Fact") on the Israeli Channel 12. She is married to Harel Orbach; the couple has three children.

Zion Silvan Shalom is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 1992 and 2015. He held several prominent ministerial positions, including Vice Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior. He resigned on 24 December 2015 following allegations of sexual harassment. Later on, the Attorney-General closed this investigation and said these claims were unsubstantiated.

Ynon Kreiz is an Israeli-American businessman and current chairman and CEO of Mattel. He served as chairman and CEO of Fox Kids Europe from 1997 to 2002, chairman and CEO of television and digital production company Endemol from 2008 to 2011, and as chairman, CEO and president of web video network Maker Studios, Inc. from 2012 to 2016.

Avishai Raviv is a former agent of Israel's Shin Bet (Shabak), Israel's domestic intelligence service, whose mission was to monitor the activities of right-wing extremists. His code name was 'Champagne' (Hebrew: שמפניה, romanized: Shampaniyah).

Ofer Shelah is an Israeli journalist and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset for Yesh Atid from 2013 until 2020.

Gal Hirsch is an Israeli former military commander and author. As Brigadier General, he commanded the 91st Division of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the 2006 Lebanon War. Hirsch coordinated the negotiations for the captives and missing of the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.

Yitzhak "Itzik" Mordechai is an Israeli former general and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1996 and 2001, and as Minister of Defense and Minister of Transport. He retired from political life after being indicted for sexual assaults during his military service and later periods.

Amnon Lipkin-Shahak was an Israeli military officer and politician. He served as Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, as a Member of the Knesset, and as Minister of Transportation and Minister of Tourism.

Zvika Hadar is an Israeli actor, comedian and television host.

Yuval Steinitz is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the Likud party. He also held several ministerial posts, including Minister of Finance, Minister of Intelligence, Minister of Strategic Affairs and Minister of Energy. Steinitz holds a PhD in philosophy and has been a senior lecturer at the University of Haifa. His book "Invitation to...

Irit Linur is an Israeli author.

Hanoch Levin was an Israeli dramatist, theater director, author, and poet, best known for his plays. His absurdist style is often compared to the work of Harold Pinter and Samuel Beckett. Levin is one of Hebrew culture’s most important and diverse artists.

Lior Schleien is an Israeli television producer and host.

Eshkol Nevo is an Israeli writer who has published a collection of short stories, five novels and a work of non-fiction. One of his novels, Homesick, was awarded the Book Publishers Association Gold Prize (2005) and the FFI-Raymond Wallier Prize at the Salon du Livre (Paris, 2008). In 2008, Eshkol was awarded membership in the Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation (IcExcellence),...

Avichai Mandelblit is an Israeli jurist who served as the Attorney General of Israel from 2016 to 2022. Mandelblit had a long career in the Israel Defense Forces legal system, eventually serving as the Chief Military Advocate General between 2004 and 2011. In April 2013, he was appointed Cabinet Secretary. In February 2016, he was appointed Attorney General. In November...

Adam Bakri is a Palestinian actor. He made his feature film debut by starring in Oscar-nominated film Omar (2013), directed by Hany Abu-Assad.

Ehud Yaari is an Israeli journalist, author, television personality and political commentator.

Nitzan Horowitz is a politician and former journalist who served as Israel's Minister of Health from 2021 to 2022. He is the former leader of Meretz. He previously was the chief U.S. correspondent and commentator for the Israeli News Company, known as Channel 2 News.

Tzachi Hanegbi is an Israeli politician and national security expert who served as Israel's National Security Advisor from 2023 to 2025. A member of Likud, Hanegbi previously served as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Minister of Regional Cooperation and Minister of Community Affairs.

Tal Russo is a general of the Israel Defense Forces, serving in the reserves. He heads the IDF's Depth Corps. He also served as an MK for the Labor Party.

Mazi Melesa Pilip is an American politician in the Nassau County Legislature representing the 10th district. A Republican, she is an Ethiopian Jew who immigrated to Israel when she was 12 years old, and later served as a gunsmith in the Israel Defense Forces. After her IDF service, she attended college at the University of Haifa and graduate school at...

Israel Finkelstein is an Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Finkelstein is active in the archaeology of the Levant and is an applicant of archaeological data in reconstructing biblical history. Finkelstein is the current excavator of Megiddo, a key site for the...

Avi Issacharoff is an Israeli journalist, known for his focus on Palestinian affairs. He is a Middle East commentator for The Times of Israel and its sister news outlet Walla!, and the Palestinian and Arab Affairs Correspondent for Haaretz. Issacharoff is known as one of the creators of the TV-series Fauda.

Mohammad Bakri was a Palestinian actor and film director with Israeli citizenship. He is often regarded as one of the most preeminent figures in the history of Palestinian cinema and theatre.

Galit Distel-Atbaryan is an Israeli writer and politician currently serving as a member of the Knesset for Likud. She was Minister of Information from 2022 to 2023.

Shlomo "Moni" Moshonov is an Israeli actor, comedian, and theater director.

Ari Folman is an Israeli film director, screenwriter, and film-score composer. He directed the Oscar-nominated animated documentary film Waltz with Bashir (2008) and the live-action/animated film The Congress. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Omer Israel Bar-Lev is an Israeli politician who formerly served as Minister of Public Security. He was previously a member of the Knesset for the Israeli Labor Party. He was placed seventh on the party's list for the 2013 Israeli legislative election, and serves as the Party's point person on issues of peace and defense. Bar-Lev is an IDF reserve...

Joseph "Tommy" Lapid was a Yugoslav-born Israeli radio and television presenter, playwright, journalist, politician and government minister known for his sharp tongue and acerbic wit. Lapid headed the secular-liberal Shinui party from 1999 to 2006. He fiercely opposed the ultra-Orthodox political parties and actively sought to exclude any religious observance from the legal structure of the Israeli State. He was...

Gilad Menashe Erdan is an Israeli politician and diplomat who served as Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations from 2020 through 2024.

Tamar Zandberg is an Israeli politician who served as Minister of Environmental Protection from 2021 to 2022, as a member of the Knesset for Meretz from 2013 to 2021, and as the party's leader between 2018 and 2019. As of July 2025 she is the head of the National Institute for Climate and Environmental Policy at Ben Gurion University.

Amichai Chikli is an Israeli politician currently serving as the Minister of Diaspora Affairs. He served in the 24th Knesset as part of the Yamina party slate, and in the 25th Knesset as part of Likud.

Dr. Hila Korach is an Israeli journalist, television hostess, radio presenter, and physician.

Tzipura "Tzipi" Hotovely is an Israeli diplomat and former politician who was the Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom between 2020 and 2025. She previously served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Diaspora Affairs, Minister of Settlement Affairs, and as a member of the Knesset for the Likud party.

Gideon "Gidi" Raff is an Israeli film and television director, screenwriter, and writer. He is best known for his creation of the Channel 2 thriller drama series Prisoners of War, from which he later co-developed the American version of the series, Homeland.

Esther Hayut is an Israeli jurist who served as president of the Supreme Court of Israel from October 2017 to October 2023, and as Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel from 2004 to 2023. She is considered to have been a progressive and liberal justice in the Supreme Court of Israel, playing a key role in many landmark cases...

Dan Halutz is an Israeli Air Force lieutenant general, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Commander of the Israeli Air Force and former chairman of the Israeli Basketball Association. Halutz served as chief of staff in 2005–2007 and as chairman of the Israeli Basketball Association in 2013-2014.

Ronen Bar is an Israeli intelligence officer who served as the director of the Israeli Security Agency (commonly referred to as Shin Bet, Shabak, or ISA) from 13 October 2021 to 15 June 2025. He replaced Nadav Argaman, after having served as his deputy since 2018. Bar was appointed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his nomination was approved by...

Eyal Zamir is an Israeli military officer who is the current Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, having taken office on 5 March 2025. Zamir previously served as the Director-General of the Israeli Ministry of Defense (2023–2025), as Deputy Chief of Staff between 2018 and 2021, commander of the Southern Command, Military Secretary to the Prime...

Tat Aluf Avigdor Kahalani (Hebrew: אביגדור קהלני; born 16 June 1944) is an Israeli former soldier and politician.

Abraham Moshe "Avi" Dichter is an Israeli politician currently serving as the Minister of Agriculture and Food Development. A former Minister of Internal Security and Shin Bet director, he resigned from the Knesset and left Kadima in August 2012 in order to become Minister of Home Front Defense, a position he vacated in March 2013.

Tamir Pardo is the former Director of Mossad, taking over the role from Meir Dagan on January 1, 2011. The appointment was announced by Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 29, 2010. He served in the role from 2011 until 2016.

Yoaz Hendel is an Israeli politician and public figure who served as Minister of Communications and as a member of the Knesset. He is also an author, publicist, public activist, businessman, and a battalion commander in the reserves. Additionally, he is the founder and chairman of the Miluimnikim ("Reservists") Movement. Hendel holds a doctorate in history and previously served as...

Sasson Gabai is an Israeli actor. He is the winner of an Ophir Award, Asia Pacific Screen Award (nominated), European Film Awards and Jerusalem Film Festival in 2007 as Best Actor in the highly acclaimed Israeli film The Band's Visit.

Yaakov Kedmi, also known as Yasha Kazakov and Yakov Iosifovich Kazakov (Russian: Яков Иосифович Казако́в) is a Russian propagandist, an Israeli politician and diplomat. He was the head of the Nativ liaison bureau from 1992 to 1999, specializing in the repatriation of Eastern European Jews to Israel. On 25 February 2023, the Council of the European Union imposed personal sanctions...

Yonit Levi is an Israeli news anchor, television presenter, podcaster, and journalist.

Ron Huldai is an Israeli politician and businessman who has been Mayor of Tel Aviv since 1998. Before taking office as mayor, Huldai served as a fighter pilot and commander in the Israeli Air Force. After leaving the Israel Defense Force as a brigadier general, he entered the business world and was later headmaster of the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium in...

Daniel Hagari is a retired Israel Defense Forces Rear Admiral (Tat-Aluf) who served as the head of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit from 2023 to 2025. Previously he served as the commander of the Israeli Navy's operations directorate, the Chief of Staff's assistant, Commander of the Shayetet 13 marine commando unit and head of the office of the Chief of Staff.

Aluf Meir Dagan was an Israel Defense Forces major general (reserve) and director of the Mossad.

Amir Hetsroni is an Israeli professor of communication science, novelist, comedian and social media personality. Commonly described as an internet troll, Hetsroni is known for his extremely divisive views and frequent employment of shock humor.

Etgar Keret is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television.

Gideon Levy is an Israeli journalist and author. Levy writes opinion pieces and a weekly column for the newspaper Haaretz that often focus on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. Levy has won prizes for his articles on human rights in the Israeli-occupied territories. In 2021, he won Israel's top award for journalism, the Sokolov Award.

Kazuya Shimba is a Japanese politician, the general-secretary of the Democratic Party for the People (DPP). He is serving as a member of the House of Councillors.

Lucy Ayoub is an Israeli television presenter, poet and radio host, formerly of the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC) and currently working for Keshet Media Group. Ayoub co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 alongside Assi Azar, Bar Refaeli and Erez Tal.

Gideon Moshe Sa'ar is an Israeli politician currently serving as Israel's Foreign Minister. Sa'ar was first elected to the Knesset as a member of Likud in 2003, serving until 2014. During that period, he served as Education Minister (2009–2013) and Minister of the Interior (2013–2014) under Benjamin Netanyahu's governments.

Merav Michaeli is an Israeli politician, journalist, TV anchor, radio broadcaster, feminist and activist currently serving as a member of the Knesset for the Democrats, which was formed in 2024 by a merger of Labor and Meretz. She served as leader of the Labor Party from 2021 until 2024, and as Minister of Transport in the thirty-sixth government of Israel.

Gadi Eisenkot, also spelt Eizenkot, is an Israeli general and politician. A member of the Yashar party, he served from 2015 to 2019 as the 21st chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces and from 2023 to 2024 as a minister without portfolio in Israel's unity government. Eisenkot, who grew up in Eilat, pursued maritime studies and later served...

Yair Golan is an Israeli politician, the leader of the Democrats party, and reserve major general in the Israel Defense Forces.

Dan Ariely is an Israeli-American professor and author. He serves as a James B. Duke Professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. He is the co-founder of several companies implementing insights from behavioral science. Ariely wrote an advice column called "Ask Ariely" in The Wall Street Journal from June 2012 until September 2022. He is the author of...

Ayelet Shaked is an Israeli former politician, activist, and software engineer. She served as Minister of Interior from 2021 to 2022 and as Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2019. Between 2013 and 2021, she was a representative in the Knesset as a member of The Jewish Home from 2013 to 2018, and then as a founding member of the...

Sara Netanyahu is the spouse of the prime minister of Israel by marriage to Benjamin Netanyahu, holding the role for her third time. By profession, she is an educational and career psychologist.

Miriam Adelson is an Israeli-American physician, businesswoman, philanthropist, and conservative political donor. She was married to Sheldon Adelson until his death in 2021.

Yosseph "Yossi" Ghinsberg is an Israeli adventurer, author, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and motivational speaker, now based in Byron Bay, Australia. Ghinsberg is most known for his survival story in an uncharted part of the Bolivian Amazon jungle for three weeks in 1981. Ghinsberg's survival story was enacted in the 2017 psychological thriller Jungle, starring Daniel Radcliffe as Yossi Ghinsberg. Ghinsberg's story...

Yotam Assaf Ottolenghi is an Israeli-born British chef, restaurateur, and food writer. Alongside Sami Tamimi, he is the co-owner of nine delis and restaurants in London and Bicester Village and the author of several bestselling cookbooks, including Ottolenghi: The Cookbook (2008), Plenty (2010), Jerusalem (2012) and Simple (2018).

Ilan Ramon was an Israeli fighter pilot and later the first Israeli astronaut. He served as a Space Shuttle payload specialist on STS-107, the fatal mission of Columbia, in which he and the six other crew members were killed when the spacecraft disintegrated during re-entry. At 48, Ramon was the oldest member of the crew. He is the only foreign...

Ariel Sharon was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006.

Isaac "Bougie" Herzog is an Israeli politician who has been serving since 2021 as the president of Israel. He is the first president to have been born in Israel after its Declaration of Independence.

Benjamin Gantz is an Israeli politician and retired army general. He served as a minister without portfolio from 2023 to 2024, as the minister of defense between 2020 and 2022, and as deputy prime minister between 2021 and 2022. From 2020 to 2021, he was the alternate prime minister.

Maxim Yevgenyevich Katz is a Russian political opposition figure, urban planning activist, election campaign strategist, and popular YouTuber hosting his own daily political show.

Adi Shamir is an Israeli cryptographer and inventor. He is a co-inventor of the Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA) algorithm (along with Ron Rivest and Len Adleman), a co-inventor of the Feige–Fiat–Shamir identification scheme (along with Uriel Feige and Amos Fiat), one of the inventors of differential cryptanalysis and has made numerous contributions to the fields of cryptography and computer science. In 2002,...

Stav Shaffir is an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset. She is the leader of the Green Party and was a member of the Knesset for the Democratic Union alliance. She came to national prominence as one of the leaders of the 2011 Israeli social justice protests, focusing on housing, public services, income inequality and democracy, and later...

Eli Cohen is an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Likud between 2002 and 2003. He was subsequently Israel's ambassador to Japan from 2004 until 2007.

Michael Wolffsohn is a German historian.

Shlomo Sand is an Israeli post-Zionist historian and socialist. He has served as an emeritus Professor of History at Tel Aviv University since 2014. He is known for his book The Invention of the Jewish People, originally published in Hebrew as Matai ve’eich humtsa ha‘am hayehudi? (מתי ואיך הומצא העם היהודי? When and How Was the Jewish People Invented?) in...

Nadav Lapid is an Israeli screenwriter and film director. Most known for his political drama films Synonyms (2019) and Ahed's Knee (2021). Film critics consider him to be among the most internationally acclaimed filmmakers from Israel.

Esther Benbassa-Dudonney is a Turkish-Israeli-French historian and politician. She specializes in the history of Jews and other minorities. Between 2011 and 2023, Benbassa served as a French senator, representing Paris (2017–2023) and Val-de-Marne (2011–2017).

Asaf Zamir is an Israeli politician, lawyer and diplomat. He served as Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv from 2008 until 2013 and Acting Mayor in charge of education from 2013 to 2018. He was elected to the Knesset in 2019, serving in two spells until 2021. He also held the post of Minister of Tourism from May to October 2020....