Issawi Frej

Issawi Frej (Arabic: عيسوي فريج‎, Hebrew: עִיסָאוּוִי פרֵיג׳‎; born 14 December 1963) is an Arab-Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Meretz between 2013 and 2019.

Issawi Frej
Faction represented in the Knesset
2013–2019Meretz
Personal details
Born (1963-12-14) 14 December 1963
Kafr Qasim, Israel

Biography

Frej was born in Kafr Qasim, Israel, to a Muslim-Arab family.[1] His grandfather was killed in the Kafr Qasim massacre,[2] Frej is the eldest of twelve children. In 1982, he began studying accounting and economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and later worked as an accountant.[3] Whilst at university, he joined the joint Jewish-Arab "Campus" group, and subsequently joined the Ratz party, which later merged into Meretz. He served on the secretariat of Peace Now, and was involved in the Geneva Accord.

Frej is married, with seven children. They reside in Kafr Qasim.[3]

Political career

Frej first ran for the Knesset in 2003, and was placed sixteenth on the Meretz list for the elections that year.[4] However, the party won only six seats. For the 2006 elections, he was placed seventh,[5] but Meretz won only five seats. In the 2009 elections, he was placed ninth,[6] but again failed to win a seat, as Meretz was reduced to three MKs. However, after being placed fifth on the party's list for the 2013 elections,[7] he entered the Knesset, after the party won six seats. Frej was re-elected in the 2015 elections, after being placed third on the Meretz list.[8] He was fourth on the party's list for the April 2019 elections, and was re-elected as the party won four seats.

References
  1. חירות גם לנשים הערביות Meretz
  2. Rivlin condemns ‘terrible crime’ of Kfar Kassem massacre The Times of Israel 26 October 2014.
  3. Meet the new MK: Esawi Freige The Jerusalem Post, 30 January 2013
  4. Candidates for the 16th Knesset Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  5. List of Candidates: Meretz Knesset website
  6. Meretz Knesset website (in Hebrew)
  7. Meretz Central Elections Committee (in Hebrew)
  8. Meretz list Central Elections Committee
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