Jonathan Kis-Lev

Jonathan Kis-Lev
Jonathan Kis-Lev, 2013
Born	Yehonatan (Yoni) Kislov (Hebrew: יהונתן קיסלוב כיס-לב) (1985-09-12) 12 September 1985 (age 31) Mishmar Ayalon, Israel
Residence	Kiryat Tiv'on, Israel; Los Angeles
Alma mater	Open University of Israel
Occupation	Author Actor Television talk-show host Artist
Years active	1995–present

Yehonatan (Yoni) Kislov

Jonathan Kis-Lev (born 1985) is an Israeli peace activist, author, artist and television personality. He has written a number of books about peace and personal improvement. His paintings, both in the naïve art style as well as street art, have been displayed in galleries in the United States, Canada and Europe. He often uses his television platforms and his art for peace activities involving joint Jewish and Arab causes.

Kis-Lev was born to Zionist parents who immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union. According to him, he had grown to fear and hate Arabs. It was only when he attended an art workshop for peace with Arab children at the age of 11, that he had begun to question his upbringing. He then joined the Jewish-Arab youth movement Sadaka Reut, as well as began learning Arabic. At the age of 16 he was selected by the Israeli committee of the United World Colleges as the Israeli Young Ambassador to the Pearson College UWC in Canada, in order to live and study alongside young students from around the world, including Palestinian and Arab students, as part of the movement's mission to serve as a "force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace".

Upon completing his studies in Canada, Kis-Lev returned to Israel to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces, and fought to be stationed at a unit that he considered as promoting peace rather than war and occupation. Following his struggle he was then stationed at the headquarters of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, where he was in charge of coordination of medicines into the Gaza strip, enabling Palestinian patients to visit Israeli hospitals, and assisting joint Arab-Israel activities, working alongside organizations such as UNRWA and Doctors Without Borders.

Kis-Lev believes in the power of education and the arts in promoting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He states that encouraging encounters designed at eliminating mutual fear between the two sides need have no relation to political stances. Kis-Lev thinks of himself as a zionist and sees no contradiction between that and his peace activism. Beginning in 2008 Kis-Lev began writing and lecturing about the possibilities for peace in the Middle East, stressing the importance of education for peace as a solution to the conflict.