After five years as the COO & Chief Program Officer of The Jewish Agency, Yehuda Setton was appointed CEO and Director General in 2024.

As COO & Chief Program Officer, Yehuda Setton lead the implementation of the organization’s strategy, program development and operations, and supervised all the program units and worldwide operations of the organization in 66 countries. In this capacity, he managed the organization’s response to the Ukraine crisis, the largest life-saving and Aliyah operation in the last 30 years, as well as the Swords of Iron War from October 7th onwards, throughout which he lead the organization’s Emergency Roundtable.

Yehuda joined The Jewish Agency in 2008, when he served as the central Shaliach for the Israeli Scouts youth movement in Los Angeles. He later became the head of The Jewish Agency’s delegation in the southwest United States. Upon his return to Israel, Yehuda fulfilled various management roles in The Jewish Agency, including five years as the Director of the Shlichim and Israel Fellows Unit, where he developed new models for Shlichut, established The Shlichut Institute, and increased the number of Shlichim to 2,000 each year – deployed to more than 80 communities and institutions across the globe.

Yehuda was a founder of the Israeli Scouts’ program to incorporate special needs teens into the Scouts movement. He’s held a wide variety of positions within Israeli society, where he developed and ran educational programs for thousands of Israeli youth, and today is a volunteer and board member for several NGOs dealing with education, Zionism and supporting vulnerable populations.

Yehuda completed a M.A. in American Jewish Studies through the Ruderman Program at the University of Haifa and holds a B.A. in Management and Human Resources from the College of Management Academic Studies.

He and his wife Michal live in Eliav, a shared community of religious and secular Israelis with a pluralistic vision. They have three children – Tavor, Maya and Nevo.