33 Facts About Amichai Chikli

Amichai Chikli is an Israeli politician currently serving as the Minister of Diaspora Affairs.

Amichai Chikli served in the 24th Knesset as part of the Yamina party slate, and in the 25th Knesset as part of Likud.

Amichai Chikli then joined the Israel Defense Forces and served in the Golani Brigade and the Shayetet 13 naval unit.

Amichai Chikli subsequently studied for a bachelor's degree in security and Middle Eastern studies at the Tactical Command Academy, after which he became a company commander in the Egoz Unit.

Amichai Chikli was then fifth on the Yamina list, for the 2021 elections and elected a Member of the Knesset when Yamina won seven seats.

Amichai Chikli voted against his party a total of 754 times, regularly assisting the opposition.

Amichai Chikli was only the third Knesset member to be declared a retiree.

Amichai Chikli resigned from the Knesset in July 2022 to run on the Likud list in the 2022 legislative election, and was given the list's 14th spot.

Judge Yitzhak Amit, chairman of the Central Election Committee, initially disqualified Amichai Chikli from running on the Likud list based on the allegation that Amichai Chikli violated election law in resigning from the Knesset only a few months after announcing his withdrawal from his party.

Amichai Chikli was elected to the Knesset and sworn in on 29 December, before resigning on 17 January 2023 under the Norwegian Law after being named Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism.

Amichai Chikli served concurrently as Minister for Social Equality from 2022 to 2024.

Amichai Chikli resigned from the Social Equality ministry in January 2024 in an effort cut government spending amid the Israel-Hamas War.

Amichai Chikli has insisted that Israel maintain a presence on the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border or return to fight and achieve the goals of the war.

Amichai Chikli met Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism in the United States.

Amichai Chikli met leaders of the Orthodox Union, the Jewish Federations of North America and Agudath Israel of America.

Amichai Chikli expressed concern that a high number of recent immigrants from former Soviet Union countries are not connected to Judaism and that many do not settle long-term in Israel.

Amichai Chikli announced that diaspora Jewry would be involved in any process to revise the law and that he supports compromise.

In 2023 Amichai Chikli launched a new initiative, Project Aleph Bet in collaboration with the Jewish Federations of North America to invest $40 million in the training of North American Jewish day school teachers.

Amichai Chikli's ministry launched the UnitED program, used by 650 Jewish day schools around the world.

Amichai Chikli's ministry led over 100 civil initiatives since the attacks, allocating tens of millions of shekels to projects such as the Nova music festival exhibition, The Moment Music Stood Still.

On rising rates of antisemitism in the diaspora, Amichai Chikli reiterated his ministry's mission to support the safety of diaspora communities, monitor antisemitism and investigate student organizations hostile to Israel.

Owens shared a conspiracy theory that Israel is responsible for the ban, sharing a clip of Amichai Chikli discussing his efforts to lobby TikTok to curb antisemitism on the platform.

Amichai Chikli is married to Hadas, a school psychologist in Nahalal, with whom he has three children.

Amichai Chikli cancelled a planned trip to the European Parliament in Brussels in January 2025 amid legal action initiated by the Hind Rajab Foundation.

Belgian authorities noted Amichai Chikli lacked diplomatic immunity as his visit was unofficial and he risked the possibility of arrest.

Amichai Chikli said that previous comments that he had made about pride parades had been taken out of context: "I was comparing between the parade in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where in some parts they undress in the street, and that looks vulgar to me".

In 2023 Amichai Chikli stated that the Palestinian Authority is a "neo-Nazi entity" and anti-semitic and that it was necessary to "examine alternatives to its existence".

Amichai Chikli accused Soros of "[financing] the most hostile organizations to the Jewish people and the state of Israel".

Amichai Chikli responded by condemning the group as a "hostile organization that harms the interests of the state of Israel".

Amichai Chikli characterized J Street's support for the Iran Nuclear Deal as being against Israel's interests.

Amichai Chikli accused former Prime Minister Yair Lapid of spearheading the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, because of his plans to criticize the new Israeli government when addressing Jewish audiences in the United States.

In March 2024, Amichai Chikli decried a surge of antisemitism in the United Kingdom, adding that London has become the most hostile city for Jews in the West and that Jewish residents and visitors feel forced to hide their identity for safety reasons.

Amichai Chikli expressed grave concern at the attacks on Jewish schools and synagogues in Toronto and Montreal.