Arye Mekel (; 1946 – June 19, 2021) was an Israeli diplomat and journalist.

Biography

Arye Mekel was born to

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universall ...

and raised in Israel. He studied at the

Hebrew University in Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli 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. It is the second-ol ...

, receiving a bachelor's degrees in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and English Language and Literature, and a master's degree in Mass Communication. He also studied at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in New York, where he received a master's degree in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

. Mekel was married to Ruth Mekel, a journalist and public relations consultant. They have three children, Maayan Mekel, Tal Mekel, and Nitzan Mekel, and 5 grandchildren.

Diplomatic career

Mekel served as foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister

Yitzhak Shamir Yitzhak Shamir (, ; born Yitzhak Yezernitsky; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician and the seventh prime minister of Israel, serving two terms (1983–1984, 1986–1992). Before the establishment of the State of Israel, ...

(1986–1989) Mekel joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1984 as a senior researcher at the Center for Political Research. He was adviser to Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir (1985–1986), director of the Government’s Media Center, chargé d'affaires at the Embassy of Israel to South Korea (2001), special adviser to the deputy foreign minister on combating

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

(2001–2002) and special government spokesman for foreign media (2000-2002). His roles as a diplomat included Consul General of Israel to the Southeastern United States based in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

(1993–2000), Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations (2003-2004), and Consul General of Israel in New York (2004–2007). He also served as director of the press department and spokesman of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, as well as deputy director general for cultural and scientific affairs. In 2010, he assumed his position as Ambassador of the State of Israel to Greece, in which he served until summer of 2014. He was a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat center for strategic studies at

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

in Israel.

Journalism and academic career

His career in journalism began during military service 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 ...

, where he served as a military and political correspondent for Israel Army Radio. He then joined Israel Public Radio (Voice of Israel), as a senior editor and political correspondent, and later its U.S. correspondent. He was also an adjunct professor of Judaic studies at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

and a representative of the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization (; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the Zionist Organization (ZO; 1897–1960) at the initiative of Theodor Herzl at the F ...

in Cincinnati, Ohio (1976–1979) and director general of the

Israel Broadcasting Authority The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA; ) was Israel's public broadcaster from 1948 to 2017, succeeded by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. History The Israel Broadcasting Authority was an outgrowth of the radio station '' Kol Yi ...

, responsible for all State television and radio (1989–1993).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mekel, Aryeh 1946 births 2021 deaths Ambassadors of Israel to Greece Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni Consuls for Israel Ambassadors of Israel to South Korea