Michael Zenou, 33-34, was born and raised in Toronto to an Israeli father. Zenou eventually moved to Israel where he began working in the logistics field, as well as at a stand in Jerusalem selling fruit juice. He also served in the Israeli army for two years when he was 24. When asked about why he chose to move to Israel, he said, “It’s the best place.”

Zenou said he was called back into army service an hour after the Hamas cross-border assault on Israel became known. Speaking to CTV News on Oct. 13, 2023, about his service, Zenou said he was in an army unit on the north side of the Gaza border. He added, “I was myself in a gunfight on [Oct. 11, 2023] between a unit of eight Hamas terrorists who were all killed.”

(A version of this mini-bio was originally published in a November 2024 article at The Maple.)