Politicsמוחמד נפאע

Mohamed Nafa

Mohamed Nafa was an Israeli Druze politician and writer who served in the Knesset for Hadash from 1990 to 1992 and led the Communist Party of Israel.

1940 to 2021Leading the Communist Party of IsraelHadash Knesset memberArabic short storiesOpposing Druze conscription

Born: 14 May 1940, Beit Jann
Died: 15 July 2021
Occupation: politician, writer, teacher
Party: Hadash
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Mohamed Nafa was born in 1940 in Beit Jann

Mohamed Nafa was born in Beit Jann in the Galilee in 1940, during the British Mandate. He went to high school in Rameh. He then studied Hebrew and Arabic literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In the 1960s he joined the communist movement and became active in the Young Communist League of Israel, which he later led as secretary general. He was among the first Druze to refuse military service, and he opposed Druze conscription as part of his anti-war politics.

He ran on the Hadash list in 1988 without winning a seat. In 1990 he entered the Twelfth Knesset in place of Tawfiq Ziad and served until 1992. He later served as secretary-general of the Communist Party of Israel from 1993 to 2002 and again from 2007, and Adel Amer succeeded him in 2015.

Nafa also wrote short stories in Arabic about village life and the bond between people and land. His first collection appeared in 1976, and his stories were translated into several languages. He died on 15 July 2021, and his collection Qushan was published in Hebrew in 2024.