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Minister Counselor Rafael Harpaz
Director of Public Affairs
In
August 2005, Rafael Harpaz assumed the post of Director of
Public Affairs at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC.
He heads the Office of Public Affairs, including the
Academic and Cultural Affairs departments. Mr. Harpaz is
responsible for the relationships between the Embassy of
Israel and the District of Columbia, Virginia, Maryland and
the American Jewish community. Mr. Harpaz also holds the
political portfolio for African affairs.
Mr. Harpaz most recently served as Deputy Director of the
Regional Security Department and Export Control Coordinator
at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. He has
previously served as Israel's Deputy Chief of Mission in
Sweden, Switzerland, and the Ivory Coast. Among his other
responsibilities in Switzerland, from 1993-1997, Mr. Harpaz
oversaw the State of Israel's efforts on behalf of the
assets of Holocaust victims being held in Swiss banks. Mr.
Harpaz has also served in the Department for North Africa at
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Prior to joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1989,
Mr. Harpaz worked for Bank Hapoalim and the Jewish Agency in
several capacities. Mr. Harpaz received a BA in
international relations from the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem. As part as his diplomatic training, Mr. Harpaz
has studied under the auspices of the Rothschild Foundation
at the Hebrew University. Mr. Harpaz also participated in
the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at the
National Defense University in Washington.
Mr. Harpaz is joined in Washington by his wife and three
boys.
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