Yuval Zellner

Yuval Zellner was born in 1978 in Ramat HaSharon

Zellner was born in Ramat HaSharon and grew up there. His mother Dvora is a social worker and psychotherapist, and his father Daniel is an industrial engineer and insurance businessman. As a teenager he played basketball for the Ramat HaSharon youth team.

In 1997 he entered the air force pilot course and then joined the Paratroopers reconnaissance unit. In 1998 he was seriously wounded when a military Hummer overturned during training.

He studied law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and political science at Tel Aviv University, completing an MA in 2007. He also earned an MBA from the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.

He worked as an aide to Haim Ramon and helped coordinate the visit of Pope John Paul II to Israel. In 2001 he became chief of staff to the director general of the Prime Minister's Office, and he later joined the National Security Council. In 2011 he became CEO of the economic development company of Ramat HaSharon.

A founding member of Kadima, he entered the Knesset in 2012 in place of Tzipi Livni and returned in 2014 for a short term. He later worked at the Hagag Group and as a real estate entrepreneur and lawyer. He ran for mayor of Tel Aviv at the head of New Hope, placed third, and won a seat on the city council.