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.