Jamal Zahalka

Jamal Zahalka was born in 1955 in Kafr Qara

Zahalka was born in 1955 in Kafr Qara. As a teenager he took part in PLO activity in the town, at a time when the PLO was outlawed. While still in high school he was arrested, convicted and sent to prison for 2 years, where he completed his matriculation.

After his release he studied pharmacy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and earned a BA, an MA and a PhD. His doctoral work dealt with the effects of hashish on the human body. At university he met Azmi Bishara in 1977, and he later worked as a pharmacist.

In 1989 he founded the Equality Alliance with Bishara, and in 1995 he took part in founding Balad. He was elected to the Knesset for Balad in 2003 and became party leader in 2007 after Bishara left Israel. He was re-elected in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2015, and the Knesset ethics committee suspended him more than once, including for 2 months in 2016.

Before the April 2019 elections he stepped down as party leader and left the Knesset. In 2025 he was elected chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee. He lives in Kafr Qara and is married with 5 children.