Israel Aharoni

Yisrael Aharoni (; born July 3, 1950) is an Israeli celebrity chef.

Biography Aharoni was born in Haifa, Israel, to Bukharian Jewish parents. Aharoni served as a combat soldier in the Golani Brigade of the Israel Defense Forces. He saw action in the War of Attrition. Following his discharge, he moved to the Netherlands to study art in Amsterdam, where he discovered Chinese cuisine. Upon his return to Israel, he lived in kibbutz Hulata and worked as a counselor for at-risk youth for two and a half years. He then left Israel to study cooking abroad, where he studied Chinese cuisine in Taiwan before apprenticing at upscale restaurants in France. In 2019, he opened a butcher shop on Tel Aviv's iconic Sheinkin Street with his son, Uri.

Media career He has hosted a number of television shows in Israel. He developed and hosted a 32-episode series on the foods of Israel's different ethnic groups. The show was purchased by the Italian Television Authority. A sequel series on different national cuisines was filmed abroad. He also hosted three seasons of a cooking show called "Private Lesson" and currently hosts "Aharoni Cooks for Friends".

Aharoni writes a culinary column for "Seven Days," the weekend magazine of the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. He has traveled extensively throughout the world covering different cuisines and food trends. As of May 2013, the Union List of Israel lists 32 Hebrew cookbooks which Aharoni has authored or coauthored, including several in separate kosher and non-kosher editions. This includes 19 cookbooks he authored on his own, all bestsellers in Israel. In 1999, he coauthored "Eating Alfresco: The Best Street Food in the World." In 2012 Aharoni began working on a book about the foods of the Silk Road.

Aharoni is a judge on MasterChef Israel and has worked as a guest disc jockey at Tel Aviv nightclubs.