Gilad Kariv is an Israeli Reform rabbi, lawyer, and Knesset legislator from the Democrats party (serving previously with the Labor Party). In this video, Kariv addresses the Knesset during Hannukah, in December 2024, reflecting on the soul of his country in the wake of Israel’s genocidal military campaign in Gaza. He cites the historic tribes of the Maccabees and Jewish values of pikuach nefesh (saving a life) in calling out dehumanizing language and policies toward Palestinian people in Gaza advocated by his fellow Knesset members.
After being ordained as a rabbi by the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem in 2003, Kariv was certified as an attorney by the Israel Bar Association in 2004. Between 2003–2009, Kariv served as the director of the Israel Religious Action Center, and headed Reform movement public and legal initiatives in Israel on issues of freedom of religion, relation between religion and state, conversion, and numerous other social causes. He helped lead the efforts to establish an egalitarian praying platform at the Western Wall, resulting in a government resolution officially recognizing the right for egalitarian prayer at the end of January 2016.
