I was born in Haifa. My family came to Eretz Israel in 1886 and was among the founders of Metulla in the upper Galilee.

I wrote my Ph.D. dissertation at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on civil rights in Israel, which was published in a book titled, Living Without a Constitution – Civil Rights in Israel (New York: M.E. Sharpe. 1993; Abingdon Oxon, and New York: Routledge, 2015). I also edited a book titled A Light unto the Nations: Israel’s Foreign Policy and Human Rights (Tel Aviv: Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1999).

I was a member of the board of directors of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and was also active in international human rights organizations, including as vice chair of the Socialist International Human Rights Committee.

I am happy to support the NIF’s Legacy Society and established the Dr. Daphna Sharfman Human Rights and Civil Society Fund, as I am convinced that in the absence of a constitution that would set the rules and protect Israel’s democracy, and the presence of a divisive political culture, civil society’s active leadership is indispensable. NIF is a major driving force in Israeli democracy that works to uphold the founding values that were embedded in the Declaration of Independence. The New Israel Fund’s activity significantly strengthens all the groups and people who support Israel as a democratic, egalitarian, and pluralistic state. I am certain that it will continue to work for a better future in the many years to come.

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