Moshe Arad (15 August 1934 – October 25, 2019) was a former ambassador from

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 ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

(1983–1987) and an ambassador from Israel to the United States (1987–1990). He emigrated to Israel in 1950. While Israel's Ambassador to the United States, he accused the group Al-Haq of being a front for

Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...

’s

PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...

and stated that "most of its members are supporters of

Fatah Fatah ( ; ), formally the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (), is a Palestinian nationalist and Arab socialist political party. It is the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

and other members of the PLO terrorist organization." Arad served on the board of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations. He was the father of Michael Arad, the designer of the World Trade Center Memorial, and Odelia Sidi.

Personal life

Arad was born on 15 August 1934 in Cetate,

Dolj County Dolj County (; originally meant ''Dol(no)-Jiu River, Jiu'', "lower Jiu", as opposed to ''Gorj'' (''upper Jiu'')) is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova. Demographics In 2011, ...

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

. He died on 25 October 2019 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 ...

Eulogy

Ambassador Colette Avital described Arad as "soft-spoken and modest, yet strong-willed, determined, and energetic". Endearingly called "Puiu" by his colleagues, Arad she noted, was "open minded and receptive to new ideas". When thinking of Israel's image abroad, for example, he helped support a "Jerusalem unit", designed to educate the public about the Jewish connection to the city. After serving as the ambassador to Mexico and to the United States, Arad was named Director-General of the Ministry of Communications, and after retiring Vice President of Hebrew University for International Relations, and founder of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations, among being on the board of many other companies. Arad's "affability, easy temperament, and unfettered accessibility also made him one of the most popular figures in the Jewish world" she said.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arad, Moshe Ambassadors of Israel to the United States 1934 births 2019 deaths Romanian emigrants to Israel Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Ambassadors of Israel to Mexico Burials at Har HaMenuchot