Dan Sobovitz

Dan Sobovitz (Hebrew: דן סובוביץ) is an Israeli-European democracy and human rights activist, public speaker, stage and podcast moderator, communication adviser for international organisations, and tech evangelist. He became known for having organised the private, EU-supported operation to provide medications for the 7 October hostages and for Palestinian children, for campaigning for the release of the Israeli hostages,] for fighting democratic backsliding in Israel and across Europe and for and seeking legal action on the rights of same-sex parents. He also gained attention for unorthodox events he conceptualised and moderated for European Commission Executive Vice President Maros Sefcovic, including live streaming from autonomous vehicles, virtual reality of the launch of EU satellites into space, and crowdsourcing EU policies among startups and youth.

Early life and education

Sobovitz was born in Israel and raised in Karnei Shomron, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank to a modern-Orthodox Jewish family.

Sobovitz holds degrees in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies from Tel Aviv University  and Sciences Po Paris, a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University in New York and a Master in Public Policy from the Hertie School in Berlin.

Activism

Hostages

In October 2023, Sobovitz set up the European Office for the October 7 Hostages (EO7/10H) as part of the Brussels Secular Jewish Community Centre (CCLJ). The E07/10H organized a rally for the release of the hostages in front of the European Parliament on October 11 with the participation of European Parliament Vice President Nicola Beer and hostage family members.

Israeli Democracy

In March 2023, in light of the mass demonstrations in Israel and around the world against the judicial coup of the Israeli government, Sobovitz organised demonstrations, conferences, and public and closed events in and around the EU institutions to bring the topic to the attention of the EU leadership. He argued that even if the “judicial reforms” are considered an internal political affair, the relations between Israel and the EU are explicitly based on “common democratic values”. As such, the EU has the authority and moral obligation to express its concern on the demise of Israeli democracy.

In September 2023, Sobovitz co-authored an op-ed, cosigned by European opinion-makers, in support of the Israeli protests and announcing the creation of DemoCrisis. The op-ed was published in multiple different languages

European Democracy

Sobovitz founded DemoCrisis, a civil society platform , in October 2023. It launched with a solidarity march in Brussels, before a conference within the European Parliament.

Rainbow families and LGBT rights

Sobovitz and his husband, Grégory Merly, are parents to two children via surrogacy. Sobovitz was the first male staff to be granted paid parental in the Commission's history, following a challenge to a rule that only allowed female staff to take paternity leave. Following Merly being allowed similar permission, they brought a case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg for discrimination, who ruled in favour of the EU Parliment

In 2019 the family challenged the Israeli authorities who refused to grant Israeli citizenship to both legal children but only to the one with the biological link to Israeli Sobovitz.

In 2021, Sobovitz testified in front of the European Parliament on the fights of Rainbow Families as part of a petition filed by NELFA. In 2024, Sobovitz challenged the Belgian city of St Gilles for refusing to register his (now French citizen) children due to lack of recognition of the same-sex parenthood.

Professional career

In 2020, Sobovitz founded his own agency, spreadable.io which focuses on his event and conference moderation and production. Since September 2021 he also serves as a senior adviser of BCW.

Since 2022, Sobovitz is the managing director of the European Startup Prize for mobility.

Sobovitz moderates events, conferences, and awards mostly for EU institutions, tech events, and civil society organisations. He is known for his very informal tone and using digital tools for audience engagement. He has made wide use of what he calls EU policy crowdsourcing, where a target audience is invited to ‘pitch’ policy ideas to an EU leader.

Between 2015 and 2020 Sobovitz served as speechwriter of European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic. His work was noted by making use of unorthodox methods and technologies, including livestreaming from autonomous vehicles and solar planes, VR of the launch of EU satellites into space, and crowdsourcing new EU policy ideas among youth startups.

Sobovitz is adviser and initiator and co-founder several human rights organisations, namely the DemoCrisis civil society platform, and Belgian organisation Ceci n’est pas une crise. He is also a board member of the Brussels Secular Jewish Community Centre (CCLJ).