Amit Mekel (; born Amit Makalda, 20 February 1980) is an Israeli diplomat. Since October 2024, he is the Israeli Ambassador to Paraguay.

Early life and education

Mekel was born Amit Makalda, in the

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

village of

Daliyat al-Karmel Daliyat al-Karmel (, , "vineyards () of Carmel") is a Druze local council (Israel), town located on Mount Carmel in the Haifa District of Israel, around 20 km southeast of Haifa. In its population was 18,001. History In 1283 both ''Daliyat a ...

on 20 February 1980. At 14, he moved to

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, to study at the . He served as a

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

for five years and then went to graduate with a bachelor's degree in diplomacy and strategy at

Reichman University Reichman University () is Israel's only private university, located in Herzliya, Tel Aviv District. It was founded in 1994 as the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC Herzliya, ) private college, before being rebranded in 2021. It receives n ...

and a master's degree in diplomacy and security at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

. He is pursuing a doctorate at the

Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management The Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, or more commonly, the Drucker School of Management, is the business school of Claremont Graduate University, which is a member of the Claremont Colleges. The school is named ...

Claremont Graduate University The Claremont Graduate University (CGU) is a private, all-graduate research university in Claremont, California, United States. Founded in 1925, CGU is a member of the Claremont Colleges consortium which includes five undergraduate and two grad ...

Diplomatic career

Mekel's first

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

was as

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

at the Israeli embassy of Cairo, followed by three years as the vice consul general in

Sao Paulo, Brazil SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Serb Autonomous Regions (''Srpska autonomna oblast'', SAO), during the breakup of ...

. He then served as advisor for the Middle East peace process in the Israeli delegation to the European Union and NATO in

Brussels, Belgium Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, followed by serving as the deputy director of European International Division in Israel. Mekel's first major post was as

deputy chief of mission A deputy chief of mission (DCM, in Europe the term deputy head of mission – DHoM or DHM is used instead) is the number-two diplomat assigned to an embassy or other diplomatic mission. The deputy chief of mission is usually considered the second ...

in the Consulate General of Israel in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, making him the first

and non-Jewish diplomat to hold a senior role representing Israel in the

Pacific Southwest The Pacific Southwest () is a region of the United States. In its broadest definition, it encompasses five states: California, Arizona, Hawaii, Utah, and part of Nevada. The region is one of cultural diversity seen all over. Several major urban a ...

. For his contribution to socialization and human rights in this position, he received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the Latin University of Theology. In 2024 he was appointed Israeli Ambassador to Paraguay, and he presented his credentials to

Santiago Peña Santiago Peña Palacios (; born 16 November 1978) is a Paraguayan politician and economist who is the 52nd and current president of Paraguay since 2023. In addition to his political career, Peña has served on leadership boards for the Central ...

, the

president of Paraguay The president of Paraguay (), officially known as the president of the Republic of Paraguay (), is the head of the executive branch of the government of Paraguay, serving as both head of state and head of government according to the Constitu ...

on 6 November 2024.

Personal life

Mekel has been married to Keren since 2010, and is the father of three children. Married to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

woman, Mekel chose to raise his children as Jewish, adopting the surname Mekel after his first child's birth. He speaks

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, English and Portuguese. In 2024 he released the book ''The Journey to Israeliness'' (''המסע לישראליות''), which tells his life journey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mekel, Amit 1980 births Living people Israeli Druze people Ambassadors of Israel to Paraguay