Personal Info
- Country of residence: Jordan
Information
Ayman Odeh was born in 1975 and raised in Haifa, within the Kababir neighbourhood, which is known for its Ahmadi majority. He was the only Muslim student in his Christian school, but now describes himself as having transcended the confines of ethnicity and religion. He identifies as a socialist. Odeh is married to Nardine Aseli, a physician, and has three children.
Odeh joined Hadash and represented it on Haifa City Council between 1998 and 2005, before becoming the party's secretary-general in 2006. He was placed 75th on the party's list for the 2009 elections, in which Hadash won four seats. He won sixth place on the party's list for the 2013 Knesset elections, but failed to enter the Knesset as the party again won four seats.
Following the announcement that Hadash leader Mohammed Barakeh was resigning prior to the 2015 elections, Odeh was elected as the party's new leader. In the buildup to the 2015 elections Hadash joined the Joint List, an alliance of the main Arab parties. Odeh was placed at the head of the Joint List's electoral list, which is expected to put him at the head of a significant parliamentary faction in the new Knesset. Analysts credited the charismatic Odeh for giving the Arab political union a more moderate, pragmatic face. Odeh was elected to the 20th Knesset, along with 12 other candidates from the Joint List.
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Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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