Arieh Levavi
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Arieh Levavi (; 3 June 1912 – 1 February 2009), also known as Aryeh Lieb and Arieh Leibman, was the fourth Director General of
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (; ) is one of the most important Cabinet of Israel, ministries in the Government of Israel, Israeli government. The ministry's role is to implement Israel's foreign policy, and promote economic, cultural ...
(1964–1967).


Early life

Levavi was born the youngest of three sons to a wealthy Russian Jewish family of good standing in the community and a lineage connected directly to the famous Rabbi the
Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman''), also known as the Vilna Gaon ( ''Der Vilner Goen''; ; or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym Gr"a ("Gaon Rabbenu Eliyahu": "Our great teacher Elijah"; Sialiec, April 23, 172 ...
(הגאון מוילנה) in
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
,
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
, in 1912. Levavi's mother fled with him and his brother to Danzig on the eve of the Russian revolution. Orphaned of both parents Levavi's education and were taken care of by his older brother Fima Leibman. He completed his studies in philosophy, mathematics and physics at the universities of
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
and Danzig in 1930.Arieh Levavi – Curriculum Vitae
/ref> After graduating he emigrated from Germany to Palestine, where in 1932 he received his Master of Arts in Philosophy, at the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...
. He worked as a contributing writer for the daily newspaper
Davar ''Davar'' (, lit. ''Speech, Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. A similarly named website was launched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an ...
in Palestine, until he was sent to Germany on a mission on behalf of the
HeHalutz HeHalutz or HeChalutz (, lit. "The Pioneer") was a Jewish youth movement that trained young people for agricultural settlement in the Land of Israel. It became an umbrella organization of the pioneering Zionist youth movements. History Before W ...
Movement (1936–1938). When he came back to Palestine in 1938 he became involved in integrating and coordinating various Zionist and political movements until the
formation of the state of Israel The history of Israel covers an area of the Southern Levant also known as Canaan, Palestine (region), Palestine, or the Holy Land, which is the geographical location of the modern states of Israel and Palestine. From a prehistory as part ...
.


Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs

After the formation of Israel he became the Head of Eastern Europe in the
Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (; ) is one of the most important Cabinet of Israel, ministries in the Government of Israel, Israeli government. The ministry's role is to implement Israel's foreign policy, and promote economic, cultural ...
. He was the first secretary and then counselor at the Israeli embassy in Moscow (1948–1950). In 1952 he became the director of Israeli diplomacy for Eastern Europe. From 1954 to 1957 he was the elected
Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...
of Israel to the Yugoslav government.


Ambassador to Argentina

In 1958 he was appointed ambassador to Argentina. He served as the ambassador during the capture of
Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ;"Eichmann"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 19 March 1906 – 1 Ju ...
(on 11 May 1960). Immediately after the capture, the Argentine foreign minister requested an unequivocal statement from the Ambassador Levavi as to whether Eichmann had been arrested in Argentina. Levavi replied that he did not know the country in which Eichmann had been arrested, nor did he know whether Israeli citizens had been responsible for his capture. On 22 July 1960, the Argentinean government declared Levavi "persona non grata". Therefore, Levavi was expelled from Argentina.


Director General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Levavi served as director of Israel's Ministry of foreign affairs next and stood at the helm of the ministry during the delicate period around and including the Six Day War.


See also

*
List of Israeli ambassadors to Argentina The ambassador from Israel to Argentina is Israel's foremost diplomatic representative in Argentina. Ambassadors of Israel to Argentina * Jacob Tsur 1949–1953 * Arieh Leon Kubhovy 1953–1958 * Arieh Levavi 1958–1960 * Yosef Avidar 1960–196 ...


References


External links

* * Obituary. {{DEFAULTSORT:Levavi, Arieh 1912 births 2009 deaths Israeli Jews Ambassadors of Israel to Argentina Lithuanian Jews German emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Burials at Har HaMenuchot