Naor Reuven Bitton is an Israeli political activist and community leader. He is a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Scholar and was one of the founders of the international advocacy organization Students Supporting Israel (SSI), that has dozens of pro-Israel groups across US and Canadian campuses. Bitton published numerous op-eds concerning the State of Israel in American and Israeli news outlets.

Personal life

Naor Bitton was born and raised in Ashdod. After finishing his mandatory military service in the

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

, he founded an activists youth group called "Ashdod Mitoreret" (Ashdod Wakes-up). After being elected to chair the group, Bitton initiated and led Ashdod's demonstrations, calling for a more affordable cost of living for young Israelis. Those demonstrations were part of the

2011 Israeli social justice protests The 2011 Israeli social justice protests ( he, מְחָאַת צֶדֶק חֶבְרָתִי), which are also referred to by various other names in the media, were a series of demonstrations in Israel beginning in July 2011 involving hundreds of ...

. During the protests, thousands of Ashdod's residents marched throughout the city while Bitton and two fellow activists created a "tent city" in one of the city's park. Following the protests, Bitton went on to study a master's degree in Public Policy in the US, during which, he interned as an adviser for Congressman Jared Polis (D) of Colorado. In addition, he interned as a Cabinet Adviser to the Governor of Minnesota - Mark Dayton. BittonUN

Following his graduation, Bitton interned and later worked for Israel's Mission to United Nations as an adviser to Ambassador

Ron Prosor Ron Prosor ( he, רון פרושאור; born 11 October 1958) is an Israeli diplomat, writer, and columnist. He is the Head of thAbba Eban Institute for International Diplomacyin IDC Herzliya Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy & Strategy. On ...

. He also represented Israel in General Assembly discussions and UN deliberations. Bitton wrote multiple op-eds about Israel in leading news sites and papers, including: the

Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

, Times of Israel,

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

, Ynetnews, etc. He comes from a family of well-known art and Intellectual figures. Bitton is related to the poet and

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

winner Erez Bitton, and his uncle is the Israeli comedian Israel Katorza.

Fighting against the Boycott Movement

During his studies at the University of Minnesota, Bitton co-founded

Students Supporting Israel Students Supporting Israel (also known as SSI) is a pro-Israel international student activist movement that supports Israel as a Jewish Democratic nation-state. As of April 2015, SSI has more than 45 chapters across campuses in the United States ...

(SSI) together with

Ilan Sinelnikov Ilan may refer to: Organization *ILAN, Israeli umbrella organization for the treatment of disabled children Given name *Ilan (name), a Hebrew/Israeli name * Ilan Bakhar, a retired Israeli footballer *Ilan Araújo Dall'Igna, a Brazilian footballer ...

and Valeria Chazin. SSI is a network of pro-Israel groups that came under one name and one leadership, for the first time. The organization is focused on fighting the BDS (Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions) campaign against Israel. Using a grassroots approach SSI was able to pass multiple pro-Israel resolutions in student governments.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitton, Naor Israeli political activists