Eli Hai was born in Jerusalem in 1952, four years after the establishment of the State of Israel. He grew up in a refugee absorption camp on the outskirts of Jerusalem, where his impoverished family lived in a tin shack. He spent most of his days outdoors, picking edible plants in the fields and forbidden fruit from the orchards to satisfy his hunger, or sneaking into the cinema through the bathroom window to watch movies he couldn’t afford.

He was recruited into the Israeli army without graduating from high school and served in the Israeli Air Force. His squadron suffered a devastating blow during the Yom Kippur War, with many aircrew members killed or taken captive. After completing his military service, he began preparing for his matriculation exams and got married.

With the help of a scholarship, he studied Economics and Accounting at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. As part of the scholarship’s requirements, he volunteered at Ramle Prison, where he tutored prisoners serving life sentences for murder. After graduating, he worked for the Israeli Tax Authority and later opened his own accounting office, where he continues to work to this day. He also spent 17 years as a lecturer in accountancy and taxation.

In 2004, he began writing his first book, driven by a strong desire to explore his family’s past in Iraq. The result, Missing Days, is a powerful love story that begins in 1940s Iraq and ends in Israel shortly after its independence. The book received outstanding reviews from readers, inspiring Eli to continue writing. His second novel, Broken Leaves of Autumn, is a compelling love story set in contemporary times, spanning the U.S. and Israel.