Ahmad Tibi

Ahmad Tibi, Israeli Arab politician.

This article is about the Israeli politician. For the Canadian geneticist, see Ahmad Teebi.

Dr. Ahmad Tibi (born December 19, 1958) is an Israeli Arab politician and member of the Arab nationalist party, Ta'al (Arab Movement for Renewal). He was elected on a joint ticket with the Hadash Movement (Hadash-Ta'al) to serve in Israel's parliament, the Knesset. He describes himself as Arab-Palestinian in nationality, but has called Israel his "homeland" and vowed to stay in Israel regardless of the fate of the Palestinian territories.

Tibi is from Taibeh, in the Center District of Israel. He is a trained physician and graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Political career

Early career

Tibi served as a political advisor to the late Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat for several years, even representing the Palestinians at the 1998 Wye River negotiations. Tibi resigned from the post in 1999, upon deciding to run for the Knesset. Tibi has described his relationship with Arafat as "close" and "extremely interesting and important to [him]."

2003 elections

Ahead of Israel's 2003 elections, several right-wing politicians, including the heads of the National Union and National Religious Party (Mafdal), sought to have Tibi banned from holding Knesset office; the official motion to disqualify Tibi's candidacy was filed by Likud MK Michael Eitan. The Supreme Court of Israel rejected their arguments, and Tibi was elected on a joint list alongside left-wing Hadash members Mohammad Barakeh and Issam Makhoul.

2006 elections

Before the 2006 elections, Tibi took his Ta'al party out of the Hadash coalition and joined the United Arab List.

External links

• Knesset Member, Ahmad Tibi, Knesset directory
• Q&A with Ta'al MK Ahmed Tibi, September 2, 2003, Haaretz News