Avraham "Avi" Primor (; born 8 April 1935 in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

) is an Israeli

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for work or a project such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists wh ...

and former

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. From 1987 to 1993, he served as

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, and from 1993 to 1999 as Ambassador to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. After leaving the diplomatic service, he was vice-president of the University of Tel Aviv until 2004. While Ambassador to Germany, Primor rose to national prominence as one of the most important promoters of the German-Israeli dialogue. He has been awarded the Mérite européen award for his contribution to European unification, as well as the Grand Cross with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Since 2010, Avi Primor has served president of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, non-partisan think tank for the study and debate of foreign policy questions, especially those relating to the

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and the

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

. Primor has published a number of articles on Israel, the Middle East, Iran and Israeli-German relations in newspapers and magazines, including

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...

(Germany), and he is also regularly interviewed as an expert on these issues on radio and television, notably in Germany.

Views on Israeli-Palestinian peace process

At an international workshop on global security held in Rome in 2010, Avi Primor said regarding the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians: ::"We do not implement a peace plan because the majority of Israelis believe that the one and only issue that truly interests them, which is the issue of security, has not been resolved in any of the peace propositions that have been published. When we negotiated with

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and with

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, we knew that those partners, if willing, were capable of guaranteeing us security. We do not think that our Palestinian partner, although he is willing, is capable of guaranteeing us security. We fear that if we leave the West Bank under the present conditions, even within the framework of a peace agreement, that the situation in the West Bank will develop as it did in the evacuated Gaza Strip. If we do not find a solution that convinces Israelis that leaving the West Bank will guarantee their security, then there will be no public opinion to support or put pressure on the Israeli government to accept a peace agreement. I think that the solution only can come from the international community."Ambassador Avi Primor - Security as the Key to Peace in the Middle East, Opening Remarks
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Publications

*"No Permanent Allies, No Permanent Enemies, Only Permanent Interests: Israeli-Iranian Relations", Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs VIII : 1 (2014) pp 33–38.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Primor, Avi 1935 births Ambassadors of Israel to Germany Jews from Mandatory Palestine People from Tel Aviv Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Living people City College of New York alumni Ambassadors of Israel to the European Union Israeli non-fiction writers Jewish Israeli writers