IsraelCast with Yoseph Haddad
IsraelCast Episode 119
About Yoseph Haddad
Yoseph Haddad is a defender of Israel – from his time defending Israel as a member of the Israel Defense Forces or more recently as the CEO of Together – Vouch For Each Other, an organization bridging the gap between the Arab sector of Israeli society with Israeli society as a whole. What surprises most people who hear him speak, though, is that this staunch supporter of Israel is not Jewish, but an Israeli-Arab himself. Tune into this week’s IsraelCast episode as Yoseph sits down with host, Steven Shalowitz, for a fascinating conversation on growing up in Israel, how his life was shaped by a life-threatening injury when he served in the IDF, and about his ongoing work with integrating Israeli Arabs into Israeli society. .
Born in Haifa, Yoseph Haddad is an Israeli Arab who moved with his family to Nazareth at age 3. At 18, he decided to volunteer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and served in the Golani Brigade. In 2006, the Second Lebanon War broke out. At a battle in Bint J’bil, a Kornet missile shot by Hezbollah severely injured Yoseph, severing his leg and wounding him in multiple places on his body and face. After a long rehabilitation process, his leg was reattached and today, he can even play soccer again. On account of this fateful experience, Yoseph decided to dedicate his life to showcasing the truth about the State of Israel abroad, fighting BDS, and working to improve relations between Arabs and Jews by bridging social gaps in Israel. He is now a renowned lecturer around the world to diverse communities, groups, and students.
Together-Vouch for Each Other
In 2018, to help bridge the gaps between Arabs and Jews in Israel, he founded the organization Together – Vouch for Each Other. Since its inception, the organization has grown to hundreds of volunteers, with thousands of supporters on social media. Yoseph has been named as one of the Top 50 Most Influential pro-Israel voices online by Social Lite Creative and one of the Top 40 Digital Influencers for Israel by JNS. He is also a TedX speaker, a contributor at i24 News, and a regular commentator on Israeli TV networks in English, Hebrew and Arabic.