Dani Dayan (; born 29 November 1955) is an Argentine-born Israeli diplomat and entrepreneur. He is chairman of
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...
.
Biography
Daniel (Dani) Dayan was born in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
,
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
."Done fighting the White House, settlers' 'foreign minister' vies for Knesset seat," Raphael Ahren, ''Times of Israel'' /ref> He and his family immigrated to Israel in 1971, when he was 15, settling in the
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 ...
neighborhood of Yad Eliyahu. Dayan spent 7.5 years in the Israeli Army.
Dayan holds a B.Sc. in Economics and Computer Science from
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 ...
, and an M.Sc. in Finance from the
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 a
Major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
(Res.) 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 ...
. He lives in
Ma'ale Shomron
Ma'ale Shomron () is an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank. Located about 300 metres above sea level, it is organised as a community settlement and falls under the jurisdiction of Shomron Regional Council. In 2019 it had a population of ...
.
Dayan is married to Einat Dayan, a former political activist who worked as the director of strategy, marketing, and sales at
Ariel University
Ariel University (), previously a public college known as the Ariel University Center of Samaria, is an Israeli university located in the urban Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank.
The college preceding the establishment of Ariel Unive ...
. Their daughter Ofir served in the
IDF Spokesperson's Unit
The IDF Spokesperson's Unit (, ''Dover Tzahal'', abbr. Dotz) is the unit in the IDF Operations Directorate, responsible for information policy and media relations. The unit is led by the IDF Spokesperson, a brigadier general and member of the ...
, 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 ...
and is a research assistant in the Diane and Guilford Glazer Israel-China Policy Center at the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies. His father, Moshe, a second cousin of General
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan (; May 20, 1915 – October 16, 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of General Staff (Israel), Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defe ...
, was the Israeli ambassador to Guatemala in the early 1980s.
Business career
In 1982, Dayan established an
information technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
firm "Elad Systems" based 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 ...
. He served first as
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization.
CEOs find roles in variou ...
and later as chairman of the board. Elad Systems became one of the leading information technology firms in Israel, specializing in tailor-made
software development
Software development is the process of designing and Implementation, implementing a software solution to Computer user satisfaction, satisfy a User (computing), user. The process is more encompassing than Computer programming, programming, wri ...
,
facility management
Facility management or facilities management (FM) is a professional discipline focused on coordinating the use of space, infrastructure, people, and organization. Facilities management ensures that physical assets and environments are managed effe ...
and software package. In 2004, when he sold his interests in the company, Elad Systems employed over 500 professionals.
Political career
Dayan was the Secretary-General of the
Tehiya
Tehiya (), originally known as Banai (, an abbreviation for ''Land of Israel Loyalists' Alliance''), then Tehiya-Bnai (), was an ultranationalist
Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a co ...
political party, and was a candidate 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 ...
on its list in the Israeli legislative elections in
1988
1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...
and
1992
1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General.
* January 6
** The Republ ...
.
Dayan was a member on the executive committee of the
Yesha Council
The Yesha Council (, ''Mo'etzet Yesha'') is an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank (and formerly in the Gaza Strip). The Hebrew acronym '' Yesha'' is created from Yehuda Shomron, Aza (Judea, Sama ...
for eight years, before being elected as chairman on July 13, 2007. Following his election, Dayan began transforming the council into an effective political lobby, modeled on American political lobbies. Dayan resigned in 2013, but at the same time created a new post for himself as the foreign envoy of the Yesha Council.
In the
2021 Israeli legislative election
Legislative elections were held in Israel on 23 March 2021 to elect the 120 List of members of the twenty-fourth Knesset, members of the 24th Knesset. It was the fourth Knesset election in two years, amidst the continued 2018–2022 Israeli poli ...
, Dayan was placed on the eleventh spot of the New Hope Party List.
His writing appears in many publications, including ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'', ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'', ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', ''Breitbart'', ''
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...
'', ''
The Times of Israel
''The Times of Israel'' (ToI) is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012 and has since become the largest English-language Jewish and Israeli news source by audience size. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist Dav ...
'' and ''
The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
''.
Diplomatic career
In 2015 Dayan was appointed by Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
to be the Israeli ambassador to
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. The Brazilian government delayed its approval of Dayan's appointment over months, sparking a diplomatic crisis between the countries. His appointment was opposed by leftist sectors of the political coalition governing Brazil, as well as social movements. In January 2016, 40 retired Brazilian ambassadors from all political spheres released a manifesto supporting the Brazilian government. Brazil's reluctance to approve Dayan as Israel's Ambassador developed into a diplomatic rift between the two countries. The standoff continued until March 2016, when Israel assigned Dayan as
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 ...
of Israel in New York instead.Israel Changes Tack After Standoff With Brazil Over Dani Dayan ''The New York Times'', March 28, 2016
Dayan served as Consul General of Israel in New York from August 2016 until August 2020. He represented Israel to 5 states:
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
,
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...
and
Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
. His term as Consul General is widely considered as very successful. Dayan managed to develop close relations with all sectors of the