Mtanes Shehadeh

Mtanes Shehadeh was born in 1972 in Nazareth

Shehadeh was born in Nazareth on 25 May 1972 and grew up in a Christian Arab family. He is married to Manal Rohana, a social worker, and they have 3 children. The family lives in Isfiya.

He earned a BA in economics and international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1995. He then completed an MA in political science at the University of Haifa and a PhD in political science at the Hebrew University.

He worked as a researcher at Mada al-Carmel, studying the economy and voting patterns of Arab citizens and writing on Israel's effect on the Palestinian economy. He became a member of the leadership of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens.

In February 2019 Balad chose him as its leader. He entered the Knesset in April 2019 on a joint list with the United Arab List, and was reelected in September 2019 and in 2020 with the Joint List. He opposes the Nation-State Law and supports making Israel a state of all its citizens.

In January 2021 he lost the Balad leadership vote to Sami Abu Shehadeh and did not run in the 2021 elections. He was second on the Balad list in 2022, but the party did not pass the electoral threshold.