Zehava Galon (Hebrew: זהבה גלאון; born 4 January 1956), is an Israeli politician, the president of the research institute ZULAT for Equality and Human Rights and former leader of Meretz.

Galon served as a member of the Knesset from 1999 to 2017 and ran as the leader of Meretz in the 2022 Israeli legislative election but failed to pass the electoral threshold.

She immigrated at age four to Israel in 1960 with her parents: father Aryeh (born 30 December 1925), a plumber for a subsidiary of Solel Boneh (a construction company), and mother, Yaffa (19 February 1923 – 10 March 2012), a teacher.

Galon started her political career in the 1980s; she led the successful struggle against religious coercion in Petah Tikva, was secretary general of the Ratz party, co-founded and became the first Executive Director of B'Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.

Later on, Galon served as the executive director of the Tel Aviv-based International Center for Peace in the Middle East (ICPME).

In regards to military conscientious objectors of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the refuseniks, she has said that "Meretz should not go with the wind of refusal, but should not try to oppose it.

Meretz must show empathy towards the refuseniks and must bring the matter up for public discussion and reveal the reasons why the officers are refusing to serve.

She expressed her belief that the party needed to reinvent itself and promote a civilian agenda, which encompasses human rights and civil liberties, in order to remain politically viable.

Galon said that Meretz could not afford to watch while other parties adopted some of its long-time positions, and it must work to cement the principles of democracy and equality in Israeli society.

[19] Coming out of political retirement, Galon announced on 19 July 2022 that she would run in the Meretz leadership election that was scheduled to take place on 23 August.

[21] Galon led Meretz into a legislative election in November, in which the party failed to cross the electoral threshold, winning no seats as a result.