Dubi Amitay

Dubi Amitay was born in 1960

Dubi Amitay was born in 1960 in Metula and still lives there. His family were farmers among the founders of the village, and he is the fourth generation. Because of the security situation in the north, he finished high school at the Pardes Hanna agricultural school.

After school he joined the IDF and commanded a company in an anti-aircraft Vulcan gun battalion. He fought in the Lebanon War known as Operation Peace for Galilee, and his company shot down a MiG jet near Kfar Dukha. He later commanded a battalion in the reserves and holds the reserve rank of colonel.

After his release he held many roles in northern agriculture, including chair of Metula Fruit and deputy head of the Metula council. In 2007 he was elected chair of the Farmers Federation of Israel and was later reelected. In 2010 he founded the Galilee Water Association, which includes 54 communities.

In May 2013 he was convicted in a plea deal of holding foreign workers' passports and employing them unlawfully. He received a suspended sentence and a fine. In November 2015 he led a farmers' protest convoy of tractors to the Knesset.

In 2017 he founded the Economic and Social Forum with Shraga Brosh. In March 2020 he was elected chair of the Presidium of Israeli Business Organizations and led its talks with the government during the coronavirus outbreak. He was elected to a second term in December 2022.