Yoseph Haddad

Yoseph Haddad (يوسف حدّاد; יוסף חדאד; born September 3, 1985) is an Arab-Israeli journalist and advocacy activist for Israel, a social activist in Arab-Israeli society, social media influencer, and CEO of the 'Together – Vouch for Each Other' association that works to connect the Arab-Israeli society to the broader Israeli society.

The Jewish National Fund and Israeli media outlets have hailed Haddad as a staunch "defender of Israel" since "his time defending Israel as a member of the Israel Defense Forces."

In 2003, he volunteered for the IDF and served in the Golani Brigade.

He completed the squad commanders course with honors and served as a platoon commander and sergeant.

In a 2023 interview with the Indigenous Coalition for Israel, Haddad reflected on his service stating he was very well respected as an Arab and as a volunteer.

He suffered severe injuries during his army service in the 2006 Lebanon War.

Yoseph Haddad is an Arab-Israeli Orthodox Christian, who was born in Haifa, Israel.

His mother was a teacher and his father was a priest, businessman and civil aviator.

Later the family moved to Nazareth, Israel, where he attended the Don Bosco Technological High School named after Giovanni Bosco.

Towards the end of his service, in July 2006, the Second Lebanon War broke out.

During the war his battalion fought in the Battle of Bint Jbeil, in which eight soldiers were killed including the battalion commander Roi Klein.

As a result, the battalion was awarded a citation, however, towards the end of the war on August 10, a 9M133 Kornet missile fired by Hezbollah forces hit a wall near Haddad.

As a result of the blast, Haddad was seriously wounded by shrapnel in his right foot and it needed to be amputated.

He was also injured in several other places.

Haddad was evacuated under fire and underwent treatment and rehabilitation for about a year.

During surgery, his foot was reattached and he was defined as an IDF disabled veteran.

Haddad admits he struggles with post-traumatic stress.

Haddad began his undergraduate studies in political science at Bar-Ilan University but turned to advocacy and did not complete his studies.

He is a graduate of the LEAD20 program for young leaders from around the world at MIT and served as project manager and operations manager at a market research company.

He lectures around the world, and in the past also lectured at an official TED event.

In early 2021 he joined the i24NEWS channel where he broadcasts in Arabic and English.

He also writes columns on other sites such as Israel Hayom and The Marker.

As part of the "Together – Vouch for Each Other" association, he promotes educational, social activities and integration of Arab-Israeli citizens from all Arab communities in Israeli society, such as by encouraging and supporting volunteers for national-civilian service.

Haddad does this with the goal of influencing young people in the Arab sector to embrace their Israeli identity and lead them to feel a sense of belonging to the state.

Haddad began his advocacy activities as part of Reservists on Duty and works on behalf of Israeli advocacy across America, Europe and South Africa.

Specifically, he speaks out against the BDS movement's boycott campaign against Israel and against new manifestations of antisemitism on university campuses.

In May 2018 he established the "Together – Vouch for Each Other" association 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.

From time to time, he appears at colleges across the world to talk about Israeli society and what it is like to live in Israel.

During Apartheid Week in South Africa he confronted and criticized the leader of the BDS organization in a prime time program there.

Haddad is occasionally interviewed on English-language media channels, and sometimes also on Arab media channels in Arabic.

For example, he was interviewed on the Al Arabiya network.

During Operation Guardian of the Walls he was interviewed by various media outlets around the world and spread content that reached millions.

In March 2021 at a discussion in the UN Human Rights Council, Iran, Qatar and the Palestinian Territories attacked Israel and accused it of running a racist vaccination program.

After them, Haddad was given the floor on behalf of UN Watch and responded against their accusations.

Haddad is interviewed on Israeli media channels, where he sometimes confronts various representatives of the Arab sector.

For example, he criticized the nature of a protest against Arab Sector crime rates and the authorities' helplessness, where Arab protesters waved Palestinian flags, as Israeli citizens spoke of targeted crime against Jews.

Haddad is also critical of Israeli media, for example on Channel 13, when they presented a category that classified terrorist attacks as being perpetrated for "personal motives" instead of Palestinian aggression and hate.

Haddad participates in committee and conference discussions in the Knesset.

Alongside his participation in issues related to the Arab society, he also participates in the lobby to prevent the BDS movement, and in the struggle to preserve freedom of expression on social media.

Moreover, Haddad lobbies companies to stop enabling support for terror and incitement of violence against Jews and Israelis.