Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is an Israeli politician who has been serving as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is the chairman of the Likud party. Netanyahu is the longest-tenured prime minister in the country's history, having served for a total of over 16 years. He is also the first prime minister to have been born in Israel after its Declaration of Independence.
Foreign relations of Israel refers to diplomatic and trade relations between Israel and other countries around the world. Israel has diplomatic ties with 164 of the other 192 UN member states as of December 2020. Israel is a member of the United Nations (UN) and a number of other international organisations. Israel maintains full diplomatic relations with two of its Arab neighbours, Egypt and Jordan, after signing peace treaties in 1979 and 1994 respectively. In 2020, Israel signed agreements establishing diplomatic relations with four Arab League countries, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco. As of 2021, Israel had formal diplomatic relations with 168 other countries, while twenty-eight UN member states have either never established, or have broken off diplomatic relations with Israel.
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as "the diplomatic arm of the Jewish people". Membership in the WJC is open to all representative Jewish groups or communities, irrespective of the social, political or economic ideology of the community's host country. The World Jewish Congress headquarters are in New York City, and the organization maintains international offices in Brussels, Belgium; Jerusalem; Paris, France; Moscow, Russia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Geneva, Switzerland. The WJC has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Union (EU). The position is currently held by Josep Borrell Fontelles.
Dore Gold is an American-Israeli political scientist and diplomat who served as Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations from 1997 to 1999. He is currently the President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He was also an advisor to the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his first term in office. In May 2015, Netanyahu named him Director-General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a position he held until October 2016.
Avigdor Lieberman is a Soviet-born Israeli politician who served as Minister of Finance between 2021 and 2022, having previously served twice as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2008 and 2009 to 2012.
Michael Bornstein Oren is an American-Israeli diplomat, essayist, historian, novelist, and politician. He is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States (2009–2013), former member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party and a former Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office.
Although there has been a large degree of integration between European Union member states, foreign relations is still a largely intergovernmental matter, with the 27 states controlling their own relations to a large degree. However, with the Union holding more weight as a single entity, there are at times attempts to speak with one voice, notably on trade and energy matters. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy personifies this role.
Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former foreign minister, vice prime minister, minister of justice, and leader of the opposition. She is known by some for her efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
Since the 1960s, the United States has been a very strong supporter of Israel. It has played a key role in the promotion of good relations between Israel and its neighbouring Arab states—namely Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, along with several others in the 2020 Abraham Accords—while also holding off hostility from other Middle Eastern countries such as Syria and Iran. Relations with Israel are a very important factor in the U.S. government's overall foreign policy in the Middle East, and the U.S. Congress has likewise placed considerable importance on the maintenance of a close and supportive relationship.
Zalman Shoval is an Israeli banker, politician and diplomat. He is also active in Israel's economic life. He was the Israeli ambassador to the United States in the years 1990–1993 and 1998–2000, and an active member of the Knesset in the Rafi-State List, and the Likud party.
Dan Meridor is an Israeli politician and minister. A longtime member of the Likud party, in the late 1990s he became one of the founders of the Centre Party. He rejoined Likud a decade later, and returned to the Knesset following the 2009 elections. Meridor served at various times as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice and Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy in the Israeli Cabinet. In 2014, Meridor succeeded Avi Primor as president of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations, an institute of international affairs which operates under the auspices of the World Jewish Congress.
Yuval Rotem is an Israeli diplomat who is currently the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Daniel Benjamin "Dan" Shapiro is an American diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to Israel from 2011 to 2017. He was nominated by President Barack Obama on March 29, 2011, and confirmed by the Senate on May 29. He was sworn in as ambassador by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on July 8, 2011. Previously, he was the senior director for the Middle East and North Africa on the United States National Security Council. As an Obama administration political appointee, Shapiro was ordered on January 5, 2017, to resign upon the inauguration of President Donald Trump. On August 30, 2021, President Joe Biden appointed Shapiro as a special liaison to Israel on Iran.
David Kimche was an Israeli diplomat, deputy director of the Mossad, spymaster and journalist. He is believed to have been the main contact between the United States and Iran during the Iran-Contra affair. Kimche was president of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the steering committee of the International Alliance for Arab-Israel Peace.
Yigal Palmor is the Head of the International Relations Unit and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chairman at the Jewish Agency for Israel, where he had previously served for four years as Director of Public Affairs and Communications. He was the longest serving Spokesperson and Head of Press Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Israel from August 2008 to August 2014. Prior to this post, he served stints in Israel's embassies in Madrid and in Paris, served as Deputy Director of the European Institutions department, and later as Director of the Maghreb, Syria and Lebanon department. He was a spokesperson of the Israeli delegations in a number of peace summits, including the Casablanca and Cairo Regional Economic Summits and the Annapolis Conference. In February 2013, he was elected "Best Government Spokesperson" in a survey of Israeli journalists.
Early elections for the twentieth Knesset were held in Israel on 17 March 2015. Disagreements within the governing coalition, particularly over the budget and a "Jewish state" proposal, led to the dissolution of the government in December 2014. The Labor Party and Hatnuah formed a coalition, called Zionist Union, with the hope of defeating the Likud party, which had led the previous governing coalition along with Yisrael Beiteinu, Yesh Atid, The Jewish Home, and Hatnuah.
Andreas Reinicke is a German diplomat and currently the German Ambassador to Tunisia. He has been the European Union Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process. Alberto Oggero, an Italian diplomat, served as his deputy until 31 December 2013. Reinicke was appointed by the Council of the European Union on 23 January 2012, and his mandate was repealed on 1 January 2014, following proposals to the Political and Security Committee (PSC) by High Representative of EU for Common Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton.
Rafael Harpaz is an Israeli diplomat in the Israeli Foreign Service. In September 2021 Harpaz was appointed as Deputy Director General for Asia and the Pacific at Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs. From 2018 to 2021 Harpaz served as the Israeli ambassador to the Philippines. From 2012 to 2015, he served as the Israeli Ambassador to Azerbaijan.
The January 1999 Likud leadership election was held on 25 January 1999 to elect the leader of the Likud party. Incumbent party leader and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu handily defended a challenge by former minister of defense Moshe Arens.
