Avshalom Vilan

Avshalom Vilan was born in 1951 in Negba

Avshalom Vilan was born on 11 February 1951 on Kibbutz Negba. His father, Yaakov Vilan, commanded the defense of Negba in the War of Independence. As a young man he played volleyball for Hapoel Negba and Hapoel Hatzor in the national league.

He served in Sayeret Matkal. He later studied economics and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and worked as an economist and farmer.

In 1978 he was among the founders of Peace Now. He became secretary of Mapam in 1990, served as an emissary of Hashomer Hatzair and Kibbutz Artzi to North America from 1993 to 1996, and was secretary of Kibbutz Artzi from 1996 to 1999.

He entered the Knesset for Meretz in 1999 and chaired the parliamentary inquiry committee on violence in sports for two terms. He initiated laws on reserve service and on violence in sports, and supported the Geneva Initiative. He lost his seat in 2009 when Meretz won 3 seats.

From 2009 to 2023 he was secretary general of the Israel Farmers Federation. He lives in Negba, is married to Naomi and has two children.