Etai Pinkas

Etai Pinkas was born in 1973 in Tel Aviv

Etai Pinkas was born in Tel Aviv in 1973 and grew up in Herzliya. He holds a law degree from Tel Aviv University and an MBA in public policy from the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center. He is a reserve officer in the IDF with the rank of major.

From 2000 to 2002 he chaired the national LGBT association. During his term the group opened new branches and acquired the newspaper HaZman HaVarod. He began his political path in Likud.

In 2003 he joined Meretz and was elected to the Tel Aviv-Yafo City Council, serving as the mayor's first adviser on LGBT affairs. He led the creation of a city LGBT center in Meir Garden, opened in 2008, and chaired its board. He also chaired the Dan region environmental infrastructure association from 2004 to 2008.

In 2005 he married his partner Yoav Arad in Canada as part of a campaign for recognition of same-sex marriage. At the end of 2006 the Supreme Court ruled the couple could register their marriage. Their twin daughters were born in 2010.

In November 2021 allegations of sexual assault and rape were published against him. He resigned from the city council and from Meretz, and police opened an investigation on November 12, 2021.