Michael Freund

Michael Freund is an American-born Israeli political activist and non-profit executive who advocates on behalf of individuals and communities with real or alleged Jewish ancestry, including alleged descendants of the Lost tribes of Israel, crypto-Jews, hidden Jews and Jews forcibly assimilated under Communist rule, and seeks to assist them to reconnect with their real or alleged roots. With this aim in mind, he founded the organization Shavei Israel in 2004. He is also a veteran syndicated columnist and feature writer for The Jerusalem Post.

Childhood and education Freund grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and attended the Ramaz School and Princeton. He spent a post-college year in Israel, studying in a yeshiva and working part-time for the concert pianist and journalist David Bar-Illan, who at the time was the Oped Editor of the Jerusalem Post. Freund returned to New York and was appointed at the age of 23 to be the speechwriter and assistant to the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, then went on to earn a graduate degree in business administration from Columbia University. and he later made aliyah to Israel in 1995. After Netanyahu lost the 1999 election to Ehud Barak, Freund took a job with Ruder Finn, a Jerusalem public relations firm. At some point, he left his job in public relations to devote himself to the work of "returning lost" Jewish groups to Israel. He became the largest funder of Shavei Israel.

For his work with Shavei Israel, Freund has been awarded a number of prizes, including the Moskowitz Prize for Zionism and the Jerusalem Prize.