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Rafael Barak - Deputy Chief of Mission
In August 2000, Rafael Barak assumed the post of Israel's number two
diplomat in Washington, as Deputy Chief of Mission with the rank of Minister
Plenipotentiary.
Mr. Barak has been a career diplomat at the Israel
Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1977.
Prior to his appointment to Washington, Mr. Barak
served as Deputy Director-General at the ministry
of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. In this position, Mr.
Barak was the Chief of Staff of the
Director-General's Bureau, as well as Head of the
Coordination Division. He was responsible not only
for internal work at the Ministry, but also
coordinated policy and directives with the Prime
Minister's Office, Ministries, governmental
branches and services.
During his service as Deputy Director-General, Mr.
Barak was in charge of developing ties with
countries, which had not yet established
diplomatic relations with Israel.
After the signing of the Oslo Agreement in 1993,
Mr. Barak was named the Chief Coordinator for
negotiations with the Palestinians. He held this
position until 1996.
In 1987, Mr. Barak was posted, as Counsellor-Press
Attaché, to the Mission of Israel to the European
Communities, in Brussels, Belgium and also
accredited to Luxembourg. He was promoted in
1991 to Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israel
Embassy in Belgium and Luxembourg. Prior to his
service in Europe, he represented the State of
Israel as Second and later First Secretary at the
Israel Embassy in Lima, Peru.
During his long service at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Mr. Barak represented his country at
numerous international meetings and conferences.
Mr. Barak is a Cum lade of the Rothchild Foundation
Scholarship program, and a graduate of the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, where he read Political
Science for an M.A. degree. Prior to this, he
graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and
General History from the Tel Aviv University.
Mr. Barak immigrated to Israel in 1969. He was a
volunteer on a Kibbutz on the Golan Heights for 15
months. He then served in the Israel Defense
Forces in a combat unit.
He has been a licensed tour guide since 1971, an
occupation that helped him, through his studies,
and since then has been a hobby.
Rafael Barak was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He
is married to Miriam and has three children. He
speaks Hebrew, Spanish, French and English.