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Reuven Merhav | |
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 Reuven Merhav | |
| Born | 1936 Tel Aviv, Palestine |
Reuven Merhav (born 1936 in Tel Aviv), is an Israeli diplomat, intelligence official and an expert on Islam and the Middle East.
Merhav is the son of Jewish parents who escaped Nazi Germany. He graduated from the School of History at Tel Aviv University and from the Institute of Asian and African Studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he was elected President of the National Union of Israeli Students, before earning his degree in Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern history and Arabic language and literature.
He previously served, as part of his compulsory military service, in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a paratrooper commando unit which was active in reprisal operations carried out by the IDF in the 1950s and 1960s in response to frequent Fedayeen terror attacks. In 1956, Merhav returned to Kibbutz Dvir in southern Israel, where he was part of its Israeli founding group.
Merhav worked in Israeli intelligence from 1961 to 1983 in missions overseas in Ethiopia, Kenya and Iran before the Iranian Revolution. He was Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1988 to 1991. A fellow of the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies (JIIS) since 1995 till present, he was called by Prime Minister Ehud Barak to the 2000 Camp David Summit in an effort to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He was appointed as a member of the Turkel Commission, [1] which investigated the Gaza flotilla raid, and the Blockade of Gaza.
He worked in Israeli intelligence from 1961 to 1983 specializing mainly in the Horn of Africa and the wide Middle East. Following a few years at headquarters, he was posted to Addis Ababa, Nairobi and Teheran. He then was appointed to another position at headquarters. He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and worked in a diplomatic mission in Lebanon from 1983 to 1984, advising during the Lebanon War which had ramifications[ clarification needed ] for Israel. He worked in Hong Kong from 1985 to 1988 fostering paths to China prior to establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and the People’s Republic of China.
Merhav was Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1988 to 1991. In this capacity, he was chief negotiator in the Taba negotiations with Egypt about withdrawal from Sinai as part of the Egypt–Israel peace treaty, which laid foundations for the establishment of diplomatic relations with China; established the first Israeli mission in Beijing in 1991, and negotiated diplomatic and administrative terms to allow "Operation Solomon" to rescue the Jewish community in Ethiopia in May 1991. He was then appointed Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Immigrant Absorption from 1992 to 1993, when the Ministry focused on the integration of Ethiopian Jews in Israel.
He worked at the Operational Theory Research Institute, an IDF organ, as advisor and tutor on geopolitical subjects from 1999 to 2007.
He lectured at the Hebrew University's Federmann Graduate School of Public Policy and Government from 2006 to 2008.
Merhav is the 11th and current Chair of the Presidium of the Association of Israelis of Central European Origin, [2] [ failed verification ] and a member of the Board of Directors of the Claims Conference. [3]
In 2009, he was appointed leader of the Israeli delegation to the 2009 Holocaust Era Assets Conference (HEAC), convened in Prague under the auspices of the Czech Republic. He is special advisor to the Head of the European Sho'ah Legacy Institute (ESLI) in Prague, the monitoring organ for HEAC resolutions. He was nominated by the foreign minister of the Czech Republic as member of the ESLI Honorary Board in 2015. [4]
He co-wrote "The Role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in a Future Permanent Status Settlement in Jerusalem: Legal, Political and Practical Aspects".
In 2001, he was elected to the executive committee of the Council for Peace and Security. This is a non-partisan body of retired IDF, intelligence community and foreign affairs officials, academics and experts, for promotion of regional peace arrangements.
He was the founding and first chairman of the executive committee of the Max Stern Academic College of Emek Yezreel from 1995 to 2000 as well as the founding and first chairman of the Ethiopian National Project, a tripartite project of the Ethiopian Community, the Government of Israel and world Jewry, to advance education among Ethiopian youth from 2002 to 2007.
Since 1993, he has been a member of various public committees and organs, including the National Labour Court.
In 2000, he was a member of the panel selecting recipients of the Israel Prize, in the category of 'Special contribution to state and society'.
Aviv Kochavi was the 22nd Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, having taken the oath of office on January 15, 2019. Before becoming Lieutenant General (Rav-Aluf), he was commander of the Gaza Division, commander of the Northern Command, commander of the Paratroopers Brigade and Military Intelligence Director.
Daniel "Danny" Ayalon is an Israeli diplomat, columnist and politician. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister and as a member of the Knesset. He was the Israeli Ambassador to the United States from 2002 until 2006. Previously, he worked as senior foreign policy advisor to Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon, Ehud Barak, and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Yuval Steinitz is an Israeli politician who currently serves as a member of the Knesset for the Likud party. He also held several ministerial posts, including Minister of Finance, Minister of Intelligence, Minister of Strategic Affairs and Minister of Energy. Steinitz holds a PhD in philosophy and was a senior lecturer at the University of Haifa.
Haim Yosef Zadok was an Israeli jurist and politician.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs is one of the most important ministries in the Israeli government. The ministry's role is to implement Israel's foreign policy, and promote economic, cultural, and scientific relations with other countries.
David Saranga is Israel's ambassador in Romania. He served as the Senior Foreign Affairs Advisor to the President of the State of Israel, Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin, and former Head of European Parliament Liaison Department at the Israeli embassy in Brussels. Prior to that he served as Consul for Media and Public Affairs of Israel in the United States. Saranga was responsible for Israel's image in the United States and was the liaison person of Israel to the American media. The Jewish Chronicle described him as "The man whose campaigns are rebranding Israel." Saranga's initiative to invite Maxim magazine to Israel generated debate about the definition of public diplomacy. Prof. John H. Brown of Georgetown University described this initiative as the first event in a new branch of Public Diplomacy. Saranga was the first diplomat who implemented Web 2.0 governmental initiatives, including the first official blog of a country, a MySpace page, YouTube channel, Facebook page and a political blog.
Shabtai Rosenne was a Professor of International Law and an Israeli diplomat. Rosenne was awarded the 1960 Israel Prize for Jurisprudence, the 1999 Manley O. Hudson Medal for International Law and Jurisprudence, the 2004 Hague Prize for International Law and the 2007 Distinguished Onassis Scholar Award. He was the leading scholar of the World Court - the PCIJ and ICJ and had a widely recognized expertise in treaty law, state responsibility, self-defence, UNCLOS and other issues of international law.
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six civilian ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine activists were killed during the raid, while ten Israeli soldiers were wounded, one seriously. One further Turkish activist died later of his wounds. Three of the six flotilla ships, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), were carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials, intending to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel had warned the flotilla to abort their mission, describing it as a provocation.
Jacob "Yaakov" Turkel is an Israeli judge, and former Supreme Court of Israel Justice.
The Turkel Commission is an inquiry set up by Israeli Government to investigate the Gaza flotilla raid, and the Blockade of Gaza. It is led by Israeli retired Supreme Court Judge Jacob Turkel. The other initial members of the commission were former President of the Technion and military expert, Amos Horev, and professor of international law, Shabtai Rosenne, who died in September 2010. The probe was overseen by two International observers: William David Trimble, former Leader of the Northern Irish Ulster Unionist Party and Northern Irish First Minister, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Canadian former military judge Ken Watkin.
Amos Horev is an Israeli military official and expert. He served as a commander in the Palmach the elite force of the Haganah before the founding of the state, and was later an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Major-General, Chief of Ordnance and subsequently Quartermaster General and Chief Scientist of the IDF, nuclear scientist, President of Technion University, and Chairman of Rafael. In June 2010, he was appointed to the Israeli special independent Turkel Commission of Inquiry into the Gaza flotilla raid.
Uriel Lubrani was an Israeli diplomat and military official. In 1964, he joined the diplomatic corps of the Foreign Ministry, and was appointed ambassador to Uganda and non-resident ambassador to Burundi and Rwanda, serving until 1967. From 1967 to 1971, he was ambassador to Ethiopia.
Walter Eytan was an Israeli diplomat. He served as Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry in 1948–1959 and Israeli ambassador to France in 1959–1970.
Yoaz Hendel is an Israeli politician, serving as the Minister of Communications since 2021, as well as previously from May to December 2020. He was originally elected as a member of the Blue and White alliance in 2019, before leaving to form Derekh Eretz in March 2020. A military historian by training, Hendel previously worked as a journalist, was the chairman of the Institute for Zionist Strategies (IZS), and taught academic courses at Bar-Ilan University. Between 2011 and 2012 he served as Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Alan Baker is an Israeli expert in international law and former ambassador of the state of Israel to Canada. He is the director of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and a former partner in the Tel Aviv law firm of Moshe, Bloomfield, Kobo, Baker & Co. He was a military prosecutor and senior legal adviser in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and represented the Ministry of Defense at international conferences, and then joined the Foreign Ministry as legal adviser. He participated in the negotiation and drafting of agreements and peace treaties with Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinians. In January 2012 he was appointed by Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to the three member committee chaired by former Justice Edmund Levy to examine the legal aspects of land ownership in the West Bank. The committee's report, referred to as Levy Report, was published by the Israeli government in Hebrew in July 2012.
Nadav Tamir is a former Israeli diplomat. He is currently J Street Israel's new Executive Director and a senior advisor for governmental and international affairs in the Peres Center for Peace.
Zev Sufott was an Israeli diplomat who served as Israel's first Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, beginning in 1992. Born and raised in the United Kingdom, he was also a former Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands and the Deputy Director for Europe within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Avraham "Avera" Mengistu is an Israeli man who crossed into Gaza on September 7, 2014. He was abducted and interrogated by Hamas, and has been missing since then. His family has stated that he is mentally unstable and had been admitted to a mental hospital in the past. He had been treated with medication, which he stopped taking a few weeks prior to his crossing.
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