Aviv Attia

Aviv Attia, 28, is a Mizrahi Jew born and raised in Tel Aviv. Like many Israelis, Aviv’s family had centuries of history in the Middle East before moving to Israel. His father’s family lived in Spain but were expelled to Tunisia following the Alhambra Decree in 1492. After centuries in Tunisia, they were forced to flee to Israel in the early 1950s.

Part of the oldest Jewish community in the diaspora, unbearable antisemitism forced his maternal grandparents to flee Iraq in the early 1940s with no more than a suitcase to the British Mandate of Palestine.

At age 18, he began his mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces, serving in the C4I corps a communications intelligence unit at the Israel-Lebanon border. He became operations manager and commander, received awards for leadership, and earned an early promotion.

After his IDF service, Aviv enrolled in university, where he was selected for the Rabin Leadership Program, a prestigious project that prepares participants to take leadership roles in shaping Israel’s future. In 2019, Aviv graduated with a degree in Government, Diplomacy, Strategy & Sustainability, and began working for StandWithUs, a non-profit organization that supports Israel and fights antisemitism through non-partisan education. Until recently Aviv lived in the United States educating thousands of people helping them to gain a perspective on Israel that is often not shared in the media.

Aviv now lives in London and is the StandWithUs UK Director. This year, Aviv got his master’s degree in diplomacy at Tel Aviv University. Aviv is also a volunteer and has been a member of the Israel LGBTQ+ Association. He managed the LGBTQ+ Union on his campus and has continuously volunteered in the ‘Aguda’—educating small and big businesses on how to make a safe work environment for LGBTQ+ employees.