Rafi Davidson

I have been a resident of Beer Sheva since childhood. After completing my doctorate in biochemistry, I decided my future was in education and taught high school for some 20 years, while simultaneously managing the Ministry of Education's department for democracy and coexistence in the south.

In the 1990s, I began to work in teacher training institutions. At Kaye College, I initiated and managed a center for educational initiatives and led programs for pedagogical innovation. I also initiated and managed projects to close gaps between Jewish schools and those in Bedouin settlements.

I was among the founders of the Moked party, Sheli, and later Meretz. I was a founding member of All Its Citizens and serve as cosecretary general.

For the past 20 years, I have been active in organizations, including The Forum for Coexistence in the Negev and Standing Together, promoting Jewish-Arab partnership and struggling for recognition of Bedouin villages, against incitement and racism, and for ending the occupation. In the last municipal elections, I was active in a Jewish-Arab list for the Beer Sheva City Council.

As a council member, I will promote my belief that Jewish-Arab partnership is the best way to achieve equality among all citizens and different communities in Israel.