Haneen Zoabi

Haneen Zoabi was born in 1969 in Nazareth

Haneen Zoabi was born in Nazareth on 23 May 1969 to a Muslim family. She belongs to the Zoabi family, whose members include Seif el-Din el-Zoubi, a former mayor of Nazareth and Knesset member, and Abd el-Aziz el-Zoubi, a former Deputy Health Minister.

She earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and psychology at the University of Haifa. She then received a master's degree in communications from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She worked as a teacher and as a school inspector for the Ministry of Education.

Zoabi co-founded the I'lam Media Center and served as its director. She was placed third on the Balad list in 2009 and entered the Knesset, becoming the first Arab woman elected from an Arab party. In 2010 she was aboard the Mavi Marmara during the Gaza flotilla, and the Knesset later voted to strip her of some parliamentary privileges.

The Central Elections Committee disqualified her before the 2013 and 2015 elections, and the Supreme Court overturned both decisions. She was suspended from the Knesset plenum in 2014 and again in 2016. She left national politics before the April 2019 election, and in 2021 she was convicted of forgery and fraud after pleading guilty.