List of Israelis

Flag of Israel ( דגל ישראל )

Location of Israel

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

This is a list of prominent Israelis

Politicians

For a more comprehensive list, see List of Israeli politicians.

Yair Lapid

Ayelet Shaked

Ilan Ramon

• Ehud Barak – prime minister (1999–01)
• Menachem Begin – prime minister (1977–83); Nobel Peace Prize (1978)
• Yossi Beilin – leader of the Meretz-Yachad party and peace negotiator
• David Ben-Gurion – first Prime Minister of Israel (1948–54, 1955–63)
• Yitzhak Ben-Zvi – first elected/second president President of Israel (1952–63)
• Naftali Bennett – leader of The Jewish Home party, minister of economy and minister of religious services (2013–present)
• Levi Eshkol – prime minister (1963–69)
• Abba Eban – diplomat and Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel (1966–74)
• Effie Eitam – former leader of the National Religious Party, now head of the Renewed Religious National Zionist party
• Moshe Katsav – president (2000–07), and convicted rapist
• Teddy Kollek – former mayor of Jerusalem
• Yair Lapid – leader of the Yesh Atid party, minister of finance (2013 – March 2015)
• Yosef Lapid – former leader of the Shinui party
• Golda Meir – prime minister (1969–74)
• Benjamin Netanyahu – prime minister (1996–99), (2009–); Likud party chairman
• Ehud Olmert – prime minister (2006–09); former mayor of Jerusalem
• Shimon Peres – President of Israel (2007–2014); prime minister (1984–86, 1995–96); Nobel Peace Prize (1994)
• Yitzhak Rabin – prime minister (1974–77, 1992–95); Nobel Peace Prize (1994) (assassinated November 1995)
• Ayelet Shaked – Knesset member (2013–present)
• Yitzhak Shamir – prime minister (1983–84, 1986–92)
• Moshe Sharett – prime minister (1954–55)
• Ariel Sharon – prime minister (2001–06)
• Chaim Weizmann – first President of Israel (1949–52)
• Rabbi Ovadia Yosef – spiritual leader of the Shas party
• Rehavam Zeevi – founder of the Moledet party (assassinated October 2001)
• Uzi Eilam – ex-director of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission

Military

• Ron Arad – MIA navigator
• Gabi Ashkenazi – Chief of the IDF General Staff
• Yohai Ben-Nun – sixth commander of the Israeli Navy
• Eli Cohen – spy
• Moshe Dayan – military leader
• Rafael Eitan – Chief of the IDF General Staff
• Gadi Eizenkot – Chief of the IDF General Staff
• David Elazar – Chief of the IDF General Staff
• Giora Epstein – combat pilot, modern-day "ace of aces"
• Hoshea Friedman – brigadier general in the IDF
• Uziel Gal – designer of the Uzi submachine gun
• Benny Gantz – Chief of the IDF General Staff
• Dan Halutz – Chief of the IDF General Staff
• Wolfgang Lotz – spy
• Tzvi Malkhin – Mossad agent, captured Adolf Eichmann
• Yonatan Netanyahu – Sayeret Matkal commando, leader of Operation Entebbe
• Ilan Ramon – astronaut on Columbia flight STS-107
• Gilad Shalit – kidnapped soldier held in Gaza, released in 2011
• Avraham Stern – underground military leader
• Israel Tal – general, father of Merkava tank
• Moshe Ya'alon – Chief of the IDF General Staff
• Yigael Yadin – Chief of the IDF General Staff

News anchors

• Yonit Levi
• Haim Yavin
• Miki Haimovich
• Ya'akov Eilon
• Yigal Ravid
• Ya'akov Ahimeir

Activists

• Uri Avnery – peace activist, Gush Shalom
• Yael Dayan – writer, politician, activist
• Uzi Even – gay rights activist
• Yehuda Glick – activist for Jewish rights at the Temple Mount
• Uri Savir, peace negotiator, Peres Center for Peace
• Israel Shahak – political activist
• Natan Sharansky – Soviet-era human rights activist
• Ronny Edry and Michal Tamir – originators of the Israel-Loves-Iran peace movement and its offshoots

Criminals

• Yigal Amir – assassin of Yitzhak Rabin
• Baruch Goldstein – murderer
• Ami Popper – murderer
• Benny Sela – rapist
• Eden-Nathan Zada – murderer

Religious figures

Haredi rabbis

Avraham Yeshayeh Karelitz

Yissachar Dov Rokeach

• Yaakov Aryeh Alter Gerrer – Rebbe
• Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
• Yaakov Blau
• Yisroel Moshe Dushinsky – Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (Edah HaChareidis)
• Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky – Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (Edah HaChareidis)
• Yosef Sholom Eliashiv
• Mordechai Eliyahu – Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel 1983–93, (1929–2010)
• Chaim Kanievsky
• Avraham Yeshayeh Karelitz, Chazon Ish – (1878–1953)
• Nissim Karelitz – Head Justice of Rabbinical Court of Bnei Brak
• Meir Kessler – Chief Rabbi of Modi'in Illit
• Zundel Kroizer – author of Ohr Hachamah
• Dov Landau – rosh yeshiva of Slabodka yeshiva of Bnei Brak
• Yissachar Dov Rokeach – the fifth Belzer rebbe
• Yitzchok Scheiner – rosh yeshiva of Kamenitz yeshiva of Jerusalem
• Elazar Menachem Shach – Rav Shach (1899–2001)
• Moshe Shmuel Shapira – rosh yeshiva of Beer Yaakov
• Dovid Shmidel – Chairman of Asra Kadisha
• Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld – Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (Edah HaChareidis)
• Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss – Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (Edah HaChareidis)
• Ovadia Yosef
• Amram Zaks – rosh yeshiva of the Slabodka yeshiva of Bnei Brak

Religious-Zionist rabbis

• Shlomo Amar – Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel
• David Hartman
• Avraham Yitzchak Kook – pre-state Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel, (1865–1935)
• Israel Meir Lau – Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel (1993–2003), Chief Rabbi of Netanya (1978–88), (1937–)
• Aharon Lichtenstein
• Yona Metzger – Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Israel
• Shlomo Riskin – Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Efrat

Entertainment

Film, TV, radio and stage

Mayim Bialik

Gal Gadot

Natalie Portman

• Avital Abergel – film and TV actress
• Gila Almagor – actress
• Lior Ashkenazi – actor
• Yvan Attal – actor, director
• Mili Avital – actress
• Aki Avni – actor
• Mayim Bialik – actress and neuroscientist
• David Faitelson – Mexican television sports commentator, born in Israel
• Oded Fehr – actor
• Eytan Fox – director
• Gal Gadot – actress and model
• Uri Geller – TV personality, self-proclaimed psychic
• Amos Gitai – director
• Arnon Goldfinger – director
• Yael Grobglas – actress
• Michael Karpin – broadcast journalist and author
• Daphna Kastner – actress; married to actor Harvey Keitel
• Amos Kollek – director, writer
• Dover Kosashvili – director
• Hanna Laslo – actress
• Daliah Lavi – actress
• Rod Lurie – director, film critic
• Gad Lerner – journalist (currently living in Italy)
• Arnon Milchan – producer
• Ohad Naharin – choreographer
• Eyal Podell – actor
• Natalie Portman – actress
• Ze'ev Revach – actor, comedian
• Avner Strauss – musician
• Haim Saban – TV producer
• Elia Suleiman – director
• Chaim Topol – actor
• Raviv Ullman – actor
• Yaron London – TV interviewer
• Keren Yedaya – director
• Ayelet Zurer – actress
• Naor Zion – comedian, actor, director

Fashion models

Esti Ginzburg

Bar Refaeli

• Moran Atias
• Nina Brosh
• Esti Ginzburg
• Esti Mamo
• Yael Markovich
• Bar Refaeli
• Pnina Rosenblum

Musicians

For a more comprehensive list, see List of Israeli musical artists.

Popular musicians

David D'Or

• Chava Alberstein – singer/songwriter
• Etti Ankri – singer/songwriter
• Yardena Arazi – singer and TV host
• Shlomo Artzi – singer/songwriter
• Ehud Banai – singer/songwriter
• Eef Barzelay – founder of Clem Snide
• Miri Ben-Ari – jazz and hip hop violinist
• Mosh Ben-Ari – singer/songwriter
• Borgore - electronic dance music producer and dj
• Mike Brant – French-language singer
• David Broza – singer/songwriter
• Matti Caspi – singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer
• Avishai Cohen – jazz bassist
• David D'Or – singer, songwriter
• Arik Einstein – singer, actor, writer
• Gad Elbaz – singer
• Ethnix – pop-rock band
• Uri Frost – rock guitarist, producer and director
• Aviv Geffen – singer/songwriter
• Gidi Gov – singer
• Dedi Graucher – Orthodox Jewish singer
• Shlomo Gronich – singer and composer
• Sarit Hadad – Mizrahi singer
• Ofra Haza – singer
• Dana International – pop singer
• Ishtar – vocalist for Alabina
• Ehud Manor – songwriter and translator
• Amal Murkus – singer
• Yael Naïm – solo singer/musician
• Ahinoam Nini (Noa) – singer
• Esther Ofarim – singer
• Idan Raichel – Ethiopian and Israeli music
• Yoni Rechter – composer and arranger
• Berry Sakharof – singer
• Naomi Shemer – songwriter
• Gene Simmons (real name Chaim Weitz) – lead member of KISS
• Hillel Slovak – original guitarist for Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Ninet Tayeb – pop rock singer and actress
• Rika Zaraï, singer
• Nir Zidkyahu – drummer, briefly in Genesis
• Zino and Tommy – popular duo, songs in U.S. films
• Borgore – music producer

Classical musicians

• Moshe Atzmon – conductor
• Daniel Barenboim – conductor and pianist
• Rami Bar-Niv – pianist and composer
• Bart Berman – pianist
• Gary Bertini – conductor
• Natan Brand – pianist
• Nir Brand – conductor
• Yefim Bronfman – pianist
• Giora Feidman – clarinetist
• Ivry Gitlis – violinist
• Matt Haimovitz – cellist
• Ofra Harnoy – cellist
• Eliahu Inbal – conductor
• Sharon Kam – clarinetist
• Amir Katz – pianist
• Yoel Levi – conductor
• Mischa Maisky – cellist
• Shlomo Mintz – violinist
• Itzhak Perlman – violinist
• Inbal Segev – cellist
• Gil Shaham – violinist
• Hagai Shaham – violinist
• Michael Shani – conductor
• Edna Stern – pianist
• Yoav Talmi – conductor
• Arie Vardi – pianist
• Ilana Vered – pianist
• Pinchas Zukerman – violinist

Classical composers

Rami Bar-Niv

• Rami Bar-Niv
• Ofer Ben-Amots
• Paul Ben-Haim
• Avner Dorman
• Dror Elimelech
• Andre Hajdu
• Gilad Hochman
• Mark Kopytman
• Matti Kovler
• Betty Olivero
• Haim Permont
• Shulamit Ran
• Leon Schidlowsky
• Noam Sheriff
• Gil Shohat
• Josef Tal

Writers

Etgar Keret

Amos Oz

• Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Shmuel Yosef Halevi Czaczkes) – author, Nobel Prize in Literature (1966)
• Aharon Appelfeld – Prix Médicis étranger (2004)
• Ron Ben-Yishai – journalist
• Nahum Benari – author and playwright
• Max Brod – author, composer and friend of Kafka
• Orly Castel-Bloom – author
• Yehonatan Geffen – author, poet and lyricist
• David Grossman – author
• Batya Gur – author
• Emile Habibi – author
• Amira Hass – journalist and author
• Sayed Kashua – author and journalist
• Shmuel Katz – author and journalist
• Etgar Keret – author
• Ephraim Kishon – satirist
• Hanoch Levin – playwright
• Julius Margolin – writer
• Aharon Megged – author
• Sami Michael – author
• Samir Naqqash – author
• Uri Orlev – author, Hans Christian Andersen Award (1996)
• Amos Oz (Amos Klausner) – author and journalist, Goethe Prize (2005)
• Ruchoma Shain – author
• Meir Shalev – author and journalist
• Zeruya Shalev – author
• Moshe Shamir – author, poet
• Mati Shemoelof – poet, editor and journalist
• Chaim Walder – Haredi children's writer
• A.B. Yehoshua – author
• Benny Ziffer – author, journalist and translator

Poets

• Nathan Alterman
• Yehuda Amichai
• Leah Goldberg
• Uri Zvi Greenberg
• Dahlia Ravikovich
• Naomi Shemer – songwriter and lyricist
• Avraham Shlonsky
• Avraham Stern
• Abraham Sutzkever
• Nathan Zach
• Zelda

Artists

Sigalit Landau

• Yaacov Agam – kinetic artist
• Ron Arad – designer
• Mordecai Ardon – painter
• David Ascalon – sculptor and synagogue designer
• Maurice Ascalon – sculptor and industrial designer
• Isidor Ascheim – painter and printmaker
• Mordechai Avniel – painter and sculptor
• Yigal Azrouel – fashion designer
• Ralph Bakshi – animation (director)
• Tuvia Beeri – printmaker
• Alexander Bogen – painter
• Rhea Carmi – painter
• Yitzhak Danziger – sculptor
• Alber Elbaz – fashion designer
• Yitzhak Frenkel – painter
• Gideon Gechtman – sculptor
• Moshe Gershuni – painter
• Dudu Geva – artist and comic-strip illustrator
• Nachum Gutman – painter
• Israel Hershberg – realist painter
• Shimshon Holzman – painter
• Leo Kahn – painter
• Shemuel Katz – illustrator
• Dani Karavan – sculptor
• Joseph Kossonogi – painter
• Elyasaf Kowner – video artist
• Sigalit Landau – video, installation, sculpture
• Gil Lavi – photographer
• Alex Levac – photographer
• Ranan Lurie – political cartoonist
• Lea Nikel – painter
• Zvi Malnovitzer – painter
• Tamara Musakhanova – sculptor and ceramist
• Mushail Mushailov – painter
• Ilana Raviv – painter
• Leo Roth – painter
• Reuven Rubin – painter
• Hagit Shahal – painter
• David Tartakover – graphic designer
• Anna Ticho – painter
• Sergey Zagraevsky – painter
• Moshe Ziffer – sculptor

Architects

• Michael Arad
• Ram Karmi
• Richard Kaufmann
• David Kroyanker
• David Resnick
• Moshe Safdie
• Arieh Sharon

Chefs

• Yisrael Aharoni – Famous chef and restaurateur

Academic figures

Computing and mathematics

Shafi Goldwasser

Elon Lindenstrauss

• Ron Aharoni – mathematician
• Noga Alon – mathematician, computer scientist, winner of the Gödel Prize (2005)
• Shimshon Amitsur – mathematician ring theory abstract algebra
• Robert Aumann – mathematician game theory; Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2005)
• Amir Ban and Shay Bushinsky – programmers of Junior (chess)
• Yehoshua Bar-Hillel – machine translation
• Joseph Bernstein – mathematician
• Eli Biham – differential cryptanalysis
• Aryeh Dvoretzky, mathematician
• Uriel Feige – computer scientist, winner of the Gödel Prize (2001)
• Abraham Fraenkel – ZF set theory
• Hillel Furstenberg – mathematician; Wolf Prize in Mathematics (2006/7)
• Shafi Goldwasser – computer scientist, winner of the Gödel Prize (1993 and 2001)
• David Harel – computer science; Israel Prize (2004)
• Abraham Lempel and Jacob Ziv – LZW compression; IEEE Richard W. Hamming Medal (2007 and 1995)
• Joram Lindenstrauss – mathematician Johnson–Lindenstrauss lemma
• Elon Lindenstrauss – mathematician
• Michel Loève – probabilist
• Joel Moses – MIT provost and writer of Macsyma
• Yoram Moses – computer scientist, winner of the Gödel Prize (1997)
• Judea Pearl – artificial intelligence, philosophy of action
• Ilya Piatetski-Shapiro – representation theory; Wolf Prize in Mathematics (1990)
• Amir Pnueli – temporal logic; Turing Award (1996)
• Michael O. Rabin – nondeterminism, primality testing; Turing Award (1976)
• Shmuel Safra – computer scientist, winner of the Gödel Prize (2001)
• Nir Shavit – computer scientist, winner of the Gödel Prize (2004)
• Adi Shamir – RSA encryption, differential cryptanalysis; Turing Award (2002)
• Saharon Shelah – logic; Wolf Prize in Mathematics (2001)
• Ehud Shapiro – Concurrent Prolog, DNA computing pioneer
• Moshe Y. Vardi – computer scientist, winner of the Gödel Prize (2000)
• Avi Wigderson – randomized algorithms; Nevanlinna Prize (1994)
• Doron Zeilberger – combinatorics

Physics and chemistry

Josef Imry

• Yakir Aharonov – Aharonov–Bohm effect; Wolf Prize in Physics (1998)
• Jacob Bekenstein – black hole thermodynamics; Wolf Prize in Physics (2012)
• David Deutsch – quantum computing pioneer; Paul Dirac Prize (1998)
• Joshua Jortner and Rafi Levine – molecular energy; Wolf Prize in Chemistry (1988)
• Josef Imry – physicist
• Aaron Katzir – physical chemistry
• Ephraim Katzir – immobilized enzymes; Japan Prize (1985) The fourth President of Israel List of Presidents of Israel
• Zvi Lipkin – physicist
• Mordehai Milgrom – Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND)
• Yuval Ne'eman – the "Eightfold way"
• Asher Peres – quantum theory
• Giulio Racah – spectroscopy
• Nathan Rosen – EPR paradox
• Nathan Seiberg – string theory
• Dan Shechtman – quasicrystals; Wolf Prize in Physics (1999)
• Igal Talmi – nuclear physics
• Reshef Tenne – discovered inorganic fullerenes and inorganic nanotubes
• Arieh Warshel – Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2013)
• Chaim Weizmann – acetone production

Biology and medicine

Aaron Ciechanover

• Aaron Valero – Professor of Medicine, founder of Faculty of Medicine at the Technion, director of government hospital
• Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko – ubiquitin system; Lasker Award (2000), Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2004)
• Moshe Feldenkrais – invented Feldenkrais method used in movement therapy
• Hossam Haick – inventor of an electric nose for diagnosis of cancer
• Israel Hanukoglu – structures of cytoskeletal keratins, NADP binding proteins, steroidogenic enzymes, Epithelial Sodium Channels (ENaC)
• Gavriel Iddan – inventor of capsule endoscopy
• Benjamin Kahn – marine biologist, defender of the Red Sea reef
• Alexander Levitzki – cancer research; Wolf Prize in Medicine (2005)
• Gideon Mer – Scientist, malaria control
• Saul Merin – Ophthalmologist, author of Inherited Eye Diseases
• Raphael Mechoulam – Chemist, discoverer of tetrahydrocannabinol and anandamide
• Leo Sachs – blood cell research; Wolf Prize in Medicine (1980)
• Michael Sela and Ruth Arnon – developed Copaxone; Wolf Prize in Medicine (1998)
• Joel Sussman – 3D structure of acetylcholinesterase, Elkeles Prize for Research in Medicine (2005)
• Meir Wilchek – affinity chromatography; Wolf Prize in Medicine (1987)
• Ada Yonath – structure of ribosome, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2009)
• Amotz Zahavi – Handicap Principle

Engineering

• David Faiman – solar engineer and director of the National Solar Energy Center
• Liviu Librescu – Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech, killed in the Virginia Tech massacre
• Moshe Zakai – Electrical engineering
• Jacob Ziv – Electrical engineering

Philosophy

• Martin Buber
• Berl Katznelson
• Yeshayahu Leibowitz
• Avishai Margalit
• Joseph Raz
• Gershom Scholem

Social sciences

Daniel Kahneman

Ariel Rubinstein

Michael Harris (academic)

• Yehuda Bauer – historian
• Daniel Elazar – political scientist
• Haim Ginott – psychologist: child psychology
• Eliyahu Goldratt – business consultant: Theory of Constraints
• Louis Guttman – sociologist
• Michael Harris – scholar, academic leader
• Elhanan Helpman – economist: international trade
• Daniel Kahneman – behavioural scientist: prospect theory; Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2002)
• Smadar Lavie – anthropologist
• Benny Morris – historian
• Erich Neumann – analytical psychologist: development, consciousness
• Nurit Peled-Elhanan – educator
• Sheizaf Rafaeli – Management, information, communication,
• Ariel Rubinstein – economist
• Moshe Sharon – historian
• Avi Shlaim – historian
• Amos Tversky – behavioral scientist: prospect theory with Daniel Kahneman

Archaeology

• Israel Finkelstein
• Amihai Mazar
• Benjamin Mazar
• Eilat Mazar
• Yigael Yadin

Humanities

• Aharon Dolgopolsky – linguist: Nostratic
• Moshe Goshen-Gottstein – Biblical scholar
• Elias Khoury – law
• Hans Jakob Polotsky – linguist
• Chaim Rabin – Biblical scholar
• Alice Shalvi – English literature, educator
• Gershon Shaked – Hebrew literature
• Shemaryahu Talmon – Biblical scholar
• Emanuel Tov – Biblical scholar
• Ghil'ad Zuckermann – linguist, revivalist

Entrepreneurs

High-tech

Andi Gutmans

Yossi Vardi

• Beny Alagem – founder of Packard Bell
• Moshe Bar – founder of XenSource, Qumranet
• Safra Catz – president of Oracle
• Yossi Gross – recipient of almost 600 patents, founder of 27 medical technology companies in Israel and the Chief Technology Office officer of Rainbow Medical.
• Itzik Kotler - Founder and CTO of SafeBreach, Information Security Specialist
• Daniel M. Lewin – founder of Akamai Technologies
• Bob Rosenschein – founder of GuruNet, Answers.com (Israeli-based)
• Gil Schwed – founder of Check Point
• Zeev Suraski and Andi Gutmans – founders of Zend Technologies (developers of PHP)
• Arik and Yossi Vardi, Yair Goldfinger, Sefi Vigiser and Amnon Amir – founders of Mirabilis (developers of ICQ)
• Zohar Zisapel – co-founder of the RAD Group
• Iftach Ian Amit - co-founder of BeeFence, prominent Hacker and Information Security Practitioner

Other

• Avi Arad and Isaac Perlmutter – owners of Marvel Comics
• Ted, Micky and Shari Arison – founder/owners of Carnival Corporation
• Eli Hurvitz – head of Teva Pharmaceuticals
• Lev Leviev – diamond tycoon
• Mordecai Meirowitz – inventor of the Mastermind board game
• Guy Oseary – head of Maverick Records
• Sammy Ofer – shipping magnate
• Stef Wertheimer – industrialist
• Yossi Dina – pawnbroker

Sports

Association Football

Yossi Benayoun

• Ryan Adeleye – defender (Hapoel Be'er Sheva)
• Eyal Ben Ami – midfielder various clubs, national team
• Dudu Aouate – goalkeeper (RCD Mallorca, national team)
• Jonathan Assous – defensive midfielder (Hapoel Petah Tikva), of French origin
• Gai Assulin – winger/attacking midfielder (Manchester City, national team)
• Pini Balili – striker (Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv, Israel national team)
• Yossi Benayoun – attacking midfielder, national team captain, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, Maccabi Haifa, Racing Santander, West Ham United, Liverpool, Chelsea
• David "Dedi" Ben Dayan – left defender (Hapoel Tel Aviv, national team)
• Tal Ben Haim – center back/right back, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea, West Ham United
• Eyal Berkovic – midfielder (national team), Maccabi Haifa, Southampton, West Ham United, Celtic, Manchester City, Portsmouth
• Daniel Brailovski – midfielder (Argentina, Uruguay, and Israel national teams)
• Tomer Chencinski – goaltender (Vaasan Palloseura)
• Avi Cohen – defender, Liverpool and national team
• Tamir Cohen – midfielder (Bolton Wanderers and national team)
• Tvrtko Kale – Croatia/Israel, goalkeeper (Hapoel Haifa)
• Yaniv Katan – forward/winger (Maccabi Haifa, national team)
• Eli Ohana – won UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and Bravo Award (most outstanding young player in Europe); national team; manager
• Haim Revivo – attacking/side midfielder (Israel national team), Maccabi Haifa, Celta de Vigo, Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray
• Ronnie Rosenthal – left winger/striker (Israel national team), Maccabi Haifa, Liverpool, Tottenham, Watford
• Ben Sahar – striker/winger (Hapoel Tel Aviv, national team)
• Mordechai Spiegler – striker (Israel national team), manager
• Idan Tal – midfielder (Beitar Jerusalem FC and Israel national team)
• Nicolás Tauber – goalkeeper (Chacarita Juniors) of Argentine origin
• Yochanan Vollach – defender (Israel national team); current president of Maccabi Haifa
• Pini Zahavi – UK-based super-agent
• Itzik Zohar – attacking midfielder (Israel national team), Maccabi Jaffa, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Royal Antwerp, Beitar Jerusalem, Crystal Palace, Maccabi Haifa, Maccabi Herzliya, Maccabi Netanya, F.C. Ashdod, Hapoel Nazareth Illit

Basketball

Omri Casspi

Gal Mekel

• Miki Berkovich – Maccabi Tel Aviv
• David Blu – (formerly "Bluthenthal"), Euroleague 6' 7" forward (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
• Tal Brody – Euroleague 6' 2" shooting guard, Maccabi Tel Aviv
• Tal Burstein – Maccabi Tel Aviv
• Omri Casspi – 6' 9" small forward, drafted in 1st round of 2009 NBA Draft (Cleveland Cavaliers)
• Tanhum Cohen-Mintz – 6' 8" center; 2x Euroleague All-Star
• Shay Doron – WNBA 5' 9" guard, University of Maryland (New York Liberty)
• Lior Eliyahu – 6' 9" power forward, NBA draft 2006 (Orlando Magic; traded to Houston Rockets), but completed mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces and played in the Euroleague (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
• Tamir Goodman – U.S. and Israel, 6' 3" shooting guard
• Yotam Halperin – 6' 5" guard, drafted in 2006 NBA draft by Seattle SuperSonics (Olympiacos)
• Gal Mekel – NBA basketball player
• Amit Tamir – 6' 10" center/forward, University of California, PAOK Thessaloniki (Hapoel Jerusalem)

Bodybuilding

• Alana Shipp – American/Israeli IFBB professional bodybuilder

Boxing

Yuri Foreman

• Sarah Avraham – kickboxer, 2014 Women's World Thai-Boxing Champion in 57–63 kilos (125–140 pounds)
• Hagar Finer – WIBF bantamweight champion
• Yuri Foreman – U.S. middleweight and World Boxing Association super welterweight champion
• Roman Greenberg – ("The Lion from Zion"), International Boxing Organization's Intercontinental heavyweight champion

Fencing

• Boaz Ellis – foil, 5-time Israeli champion
• Lydia Hatoel-Zuckerman – foil, 6-time Israeli champion
• Ayelet Ohayon – foil, European champion
• Tomer Or, foil – junior world champion
• Andre Spitzer – killed by terrorists

Figure skating

Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovsky

• Alexei Beletski – ice dancer, Olympian
• Galit Chait – ice dancer, World Championship bronze 2002
• Natalia Gudina – figure skater, Olympian
• Tamar Katz – figure skater
• Lionel Rumi – ice dancer
• Sergei Sakhnovsky – ice dancer, World Championship Bronze medal 2002
• Daniel Samohin – figure skater
• Michael Shmerkin – figure skater
• Alexandra Zaretski – ice dancer, Olympian
• Roman Zaretski – ice dancer, Olympian

Golf

Laetitia Beck

• Laetitia Beck – golfer

Gymnastics

Alex Shatilov

Veronika Vitenberg

• Alexander Shatilov – World bronze (artistic gymnast; floor exercise)
• Veronika Vitenberg – rhythmic gymnast

Judo

Yarden Gerbi

Or Sasson

• Yael Arad – judoka (Olympic silver: 1992, European champion: 1993, world silver: 1993). First Israeli Olympic medalist; light-middleweight
• Yarden Gerbi – judoka (Olympic bronze: 2016)
• Andrian Kordon – European Championship bronze; heavyweight
• Daniela Krukower – Israel/Argentina judoka, World Champion (under 63 kg)
• Yoel Razvozov – 2-time European Championship silver; lightweight
• Or Sasson – judoka (Olympic bronze: 2016)
• Oren Smadja – judoka (Olympic bronze: 1992; lightweight)
• Ehud Vaks – judoka (half-lightweight)
• Gal Yekutiel – European championship bronze
• Ariel Zeevi – judoka (European champion: 2000, 2003, 2004; Olympic bronze: 2004; 100 kg)

Sailing

Gal Fridman

Shahar Tzuberi

Oren Smadja

Ariel Ze'evi

• Zefania Carmel – yachtsman, world champion (420 class)
• Gal Fridman – windsurfer (Olympic gold: 2004 (Israel's first gold medalist), bronze: 1996 (Mistral class); world champion: 2002)
• Lydia Lazarov – yachting world champion (420 class)
• Nimrod Mashiah – windsurfer; World Championship silver, ranked # 1 in world.
• Shahar Tzuberi – Israel, windsurfer, Olympic bronze (RS:X discipline); 2009 & 2010 European Windsurf champion

Swimming

• Vadim Alexeev – swimmer, breaststroke
• Adi Bichman – 400-m and 800-m freestyle, 400-m medley
• Yoav Bruck – 50-m freestyle and 100-m freestyle
• Eran Groumi – 100 and 200 m backstroke, 100-m butterfly
• Michael "Miki" Halika – 200-m butterfly, 200- and 400-m individual medley
• Judith Haspel – (born "Judith Deutsch"), of Austrian origin, held every Austrian women's middle and long distance freestyle record in 1935; refused to represent Austria in 1936 Summer Olympics along with Ruth Langer and Lucie Goldner, protesting Hitler, stating, "I refuse to enter a contest in a land which so shamefully persecutes my people."
• Amit Ivry – Maccabiah and Israeli records in Women's 100m butterfly, Israeli record in t Women's 200m Individual Medley, bronze medal in 100m butterfly at the European Swimming Championships.
• Dan Kutler – of U.S. origin; 100-m butterfly, 4×100-m medley relay
• Keren Leibovitch – Paralympic swimmer, 4x-gold-medal-winner, 100-m backstroke, 50- and 100-m freestyle, 200-m individual medley
• Tal Stricker – 100- and 200-m breaststroke, 4×100-m medley relay
• Eithan Urbach – backstroke swimmer, European championship silver and bronze; 100-m backstroke

Table Tennis

• Marina Kravchenko – table tennis player, Soviet and Israel national teams
• Angelica Rozeanu – (Adelstin), of Romanian origin, 17-time world table tennis champion, ITTFHoF

Track and Field

• Alex Averbukh – pole vaulter (European champion: 2002, 2006)
• Danielle Frenkel – Israeli high jump champion
• Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko – triple jumper and long jumper; participated in 2012 Summer Olympics
• Shaul Ladany – world-record-holding racewalker, Bergen-Belsen survivor, Munich Massacre survivor, Professor of Industrial Engineering
• Esther Roth-Shachamarov – track and field, hurdler and sprinter (5 Asian Game golds)

Tennis

Julia Glushko

Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich

Shahar Pe'er

• Noam Behr
• Ilana Berger
• Gilad Bloom
• Jonathan Erlich – 6 doubles titles, 6 doubles finals; won 2008 Australian Open Men's Doubles (w/Andy Ram), highest world doubles ranking # 5
• Shlomo Glickstein – highest world singles ranking # 22, highest world doubles ranking # 28
• Julia Glushko
• Amir Hadad
• Harel Levy – highest world singles ranking # 30
• Evgenia Linetskaya
• Amos Mansdorf – highest world singles ranking # 18
• Tzipora Obziler
• Noam Okun
• Shahar Pe'er – (3 WTA career titles), highest world singles ranking # 11, highest world doubles ranking # 21
• Shahar Perkiss
• Andy Ram – 6 doubles titles, 6 doubles finals, 1 mixed double title (won 2006 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles (w/Vera Zvonareva), 2007 French Open Mixed Doubles (w/Nathalie Dechy), 2008 Australian Open Men's Doubles (w/Jonathan Erlich), highest world doubles ranking # 5
• Eyal Ran
• Dudi Sela – highest world singles ranking # 29
• Anna Smashnova – (12 WTA career titles), highest world singles ranking # 15

Other

• 1972 Olympic team – see Munich Massacre
• David Mark Berger – weightlifter originally from US, Maccabiah champion (middleweight); killed in the Munich Massacre
• Max Birbraer – ice hockey player drafted by NHL team (New Jersey Devils)
• Oren Eizenman – ice hockey player, Israel national team; Connecticut Whale)
• Eli Elezra – professional poker player
• Boris Gelfand, Emil Sutovsky, Ilya Smirin – chess Grandmasters (~2700 peak ELO rating)
• Josh Cartu – Ferrari AFCorse Test Pilot, Entrepreneur, prolific Gumballer, Best Team 2013
• Baruch Hagai – wheelchair athlete (multiple paralympic golds)
• Michael Kolganov – sprint canoer/kayak paddler, world champion, Olympic bronze 2000 (K-1 500-meter)
• Dean Kremer - Israeli-American baseball pitcher
• Chanoch Nissany – Formula One auto racing test-driver
• Ido Pariente – mixed martial artist
• Chagai Zamir – Israel, 4-time Paralympic Games champion

See also: List of Israeli chess players

See also

• List of Israel Prize recipients
• List of people by nationality
• Politics of Israel, List of Knesset members
• Culture of Israel, Music of Israel
• Science and technology in Israel
• List of Hebrew language authors, poets and playwrights
• List of Dutch Israelis
• List of notable Mizrahi Jews and Sephardi Jews in Israel
• List of notable Ashkenazi Jews in Israel
• List of notable Ethiopian Jews in Israel

Related links

• Presidents of Israel
• Prime Ministers of Israel