Dan Ashbel (

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 ...

: דן אשבל; born 1949 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 ...

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 ...

) is a retired Israeli ambassador.

Biography

Dan Ashbel was born in

in 1949. He studied

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

and

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

. At a later stage he completed his

Master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

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 ...

with a focus on the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Dan Ashbel is married to Zehava and they have three sons.

Professional career

From 1973 to 1975 Ashbel worked as a teacher at the Kfar HaNoar HaDati High School in

Kfar Hasidim Kfar Hasidim (), also known as Kfar Hasidim Alef to distinguish it from Kfar Hasidim Bet, is a moshav in northern Israel. Located near Kiryat Ata, it falls under the jurisdiction of Zevulun Regional Council. In it had a population of . History ...

near Haifa. In 1975 he joined Israel's diplomatic service, and in 1978 became First Secretary for press and cultural affairs at the embassy of Israel in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

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 ...

. This post ended in 1983. From 1983 to 1986, he held the posts of head of the director's office for the Center for Political Research and deputy press spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. Between 1986 and 1989 he was counselor and DCM at the Israeli embassy in Austria. In 1989, he took up a three-year post as press counselor at the Israeli embassy to the United Kingdom in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. During that period he participated in the

Madrid Peace Conference of 1991 The Madrid Conference of 1991 was a peace conference, held from 30 October to 1 November 1991 in Madrid, hosted by Spain and co-sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union. It was an attempt by the international community to revive the ...

. Upon his return from London in 1992, Ashbel took over the responsibility for the Israeli cooperation program for

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

n countries. Later, he became the director of the Training Division and Europe II Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem. From 1994 to 1996 he was an instructor at Israel's National Defense College. This was followed by the post of Israel's

Consul General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

for the Mid-Atlantic region in the USA, based in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

between 1997 and 2000. Ashbel then became director of the division of European Multilateral Institutions and coordinator for the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Euromed) in the Israeli Foreign Ministry. From March 2005 to October 2009, he was Israel's ambassador to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. This post included also the representation of Israel in the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

and the United Nations International Organizations in Vienna. From 2006 to 2009, he was also the non-resident ambassador of Israel to Slovenia. Since November 2009, Ashbel has been the Political Advisor to the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

(Israel's Parliament). From September 2011 to April 2016 Dan Ashbel served as Israel's Ambassador to Finland and

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashbel, Dan Israeli geographers Israeli Jews Diplomats from Tel Aviv Ambassadors of Israel to Austria 1949 births Living people University of Haifa alumni Ambassadors of Israel to Slovenia Ambassadors of Israel to Finland Consuls for Israel Ambassadors of Israel to Estonia