Dov Khenin

Dov Khenin was born in 1958 in Petah Tikva

Khenin was born in 1958 in Petah Tikva to David and Shula Khenin. His father was a figure in the Communist Party of Israel, and his mother was a preschool teacher and Communist activist. As a youth he joined Banki, the Young Communist League.

He finished his IDF service as a staff sergeant. He earned a law degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1982, then a master's in political science. In 2000 he received a doctorate in political science from Tel Aviv University, and in 2002 he completed postdoctoral work at Oxford.

From 1984 to 2004 he worked as a lawyer and led human rights petitions. From 2002 to 2006 he chaired Life and Environment, an umbrella group of environmental organizations. Since 1990 he has been in the leadership of the Communist Party of Israel.

He entered the Knesset in 2006 and focused on workers' rights, the environment and social change. In 2008 he ran for mayor of Tel Aviv for Ir Lekhulanu and lost to Ron Huldai. In 2019 he announced he would not run again.

In 2021 President Isaac Herzog appointed him chair of the Israeli Climate Forum.