Alexander Ryvchin (born 18 July 1983) is an Australian author, advocate, media commentator, and lawyer. He is a frequent guest on US, Israeli and Australia media.
He was born in Kiev, Ukraine, and migrated to Australia as a refugee.[1] He attended Sydney Boys High School.[2] He practised law at Mallesons Stephen Jaques in Sydney and Herbert Smith in London before serving as a spokesman for the Zionist Federation UK and being awarded an Israel Research Fellowship.[3] His writing on the Arab–Israeli conflict and Jewish history has been published in numerous international newspapers, including The Australian,[4] The Sydney Morning Herald,[5] The Guardian,[6] the National Post,[7] and The Jerusalem Post.[8] Ryvchin is a regular columnist for The Spectator.[9]
In May 2013, Ryvchin was appointed Director of Public Affairs at the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and was promoted to co-chief executive officer in 2018, becoming one of the youngest professional leaders in the Jewish world.[10]
In November 2023, he cut ties with Australian Jewish Association and said the group "has no representative status and in no way speaks for or reflects the views of Australian Jews".[11]
He is one of Co-Chief Executive Officer of Executive Council of Australian Jewry.[12]
Ryvchin is the author of two books on Israel. His debut book, The Anti-Israel Agenda – Inside the Political War on the Jewish State (Gefen Publishing House, 2017), is a collaborative work with other prominent thinkers on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict including Alan Dershowitz, Colonel Richard Kemp, Hillel Neuer and Professor Alan Johnson.[13] It was lauded by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as "the most important book on Israel since Alan Dershowitz's The Case for Israel".[14]
In 2019, Ryvchin published his second book, Zionism – The Concise History.[15]
He published the book The 7 Deadly Myths: Antisemitism from the Time of Christ to Kanye West in 2023.[16]
Ryvchin is an outspoken critic of the anti-Israel movement referring to its activists as "self-righteous westerners" with "pretensions to heroism" who seek "redemption" by "slaying the Zionist beast".[17]
He has been a staunch critic of Palestinian terrorism, corruption and rejection of a negotiated end to the conflict with Israel.[18]
He has spoken publicly of his love for Australia and his support for multiculturalism and integration which Ryvchin argues requires that "we accept the duty to uphold the freedoms granted to us and to protect the values underpinning our society – values such as democracy, tolerance, mutual respect."[19]
In June 2024 he called on Senator Fatima Payman to resign after Payman accused Israel of genocide during Israel-Hams war and used phrase "From the river to the sea Palestine will be free".[20] He also said Payman and Australian Greens "must be held accountable" and accused them of bringing antisemitism into the mainstream and have legitimized violent protests [21] and "deceitful rhetoric on genocide" and endangering Jewish community.[22]
He currently resides in Sydney with his wife and daughters.