Vivian Silver

Vivian Silver was born in 1949 in Winnipeg

Silver was born and grew up in Winnipeg, Canada. She first came to Israel in 1968 and studied psychology and English literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She graduated from the University of Manitoba, and in 1973 she co-organized the first National Conference of Jewish Women.

She moved to Israel in 1974 and joined kibbutz Gezer, where she served as secretary and later as chairperson. Her early work focused on women's rights. In 1981 she founded the United Kibbutz Movement's department for gender equality.

In 1990 she moved to kibbutz Be'eri near the Gaza border with her husband and two sons. From 1998 she led the Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development, and in 1999 she co-founded the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation with Amal Elsana Alh'jooj. She also served on the board of B'Tselem.

She retired in 2014 and, after the Gaza war of that year, co-founded Women Wage Peace. She volunteered driving Gazan patients to treatment in Jerusalem. On October 4, 2023, she helped organize a peace rally in Jerusalem attended by 1,500 women.

On October 7, 2023, she was killed in her home during the attack on Be'eri. She was first thought to be a hostage, and her death was confirmed on November 13, 2023. She was married to Lewis Zeigen.