Born in Galați, Romania,[1] the son of Abraham Goldstein, Gilon had polio at the age of seven months, leaving him with a leg disability.

Gilon was the only Meretz MK to vote against Ehud Barak's budget, stating it is "Anti-Social in a most profound way".

For the 2003 elections he was placed seventh on the Meretz list,[4] but lost his seat when the party was reduced to six MKs.

After leaving the Knesset he owned a restaurant called "Beit HaAm" in which the waiters wore shirts of Israeli youth movements.

In February 2012 Gilon ran for the Meretz leadership, finishing second with 37.7%, behind Zehava Gal-On (60%) and ahead of Ori Ophir (2.8%).

[9] He retained second place on the Meretz list for the April 2019 elections, in which the party won four seats.