Hagai Elad

Hagai El-Ad is an Israeli human rights and LGBT activist who served as director general of B'Tselem from 2014 to 2023.

born 1969Leading B'TselemJerusalem's first Pride paradeUN Security Council speeches

Born: 1 October 1969, Haifa
Occupation: chief executive officer, activist
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hagai Elad was born in 1969 in Haifa

Hagai El-Ad was born on October 1, 1969, in Haifa. His parents were of Ashkenazi Jewish origin. He served in the IDF in Unit 504.

He studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and earned a degree in physics. He was a pre-doctoral researcher at the Harvard astrophysics center. As a student he chaired a university LGBT group, which held the first Pride events at the Hebrew University in 1997.

In 2000 he returned to Israel and became the first CEO of the Jerusalem Open House. In June 2002 he led the first Pride parade in Jerusalem, which caused controversy in the city. He left the post in 2006.

On July 1, 2008, he became director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. In December 2009 the group held its first Human Rights Day parade. He took part in protests in Sheikh Jarrah and was arrested.

He led B'Tselem from May 2014 to 2023. He spoke at the UN Security Council in 2016 and 2018, calling for an end to the occupation and for action to stop the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar. His 2018 remarks were condemned by Benjamin Netanyahu, Danny Danon and Nikki Haley.