Nachman Shai (; born 28 November 1946) is an Israeli journalist and politician who served as Israel's Minister of Diaspora Affairs. He previously served as a member of 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 ...

and its Deputy Speaker, as well as the IDF spokesman. In April 2024 he was appointed Dean of the

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

Taube Family Campus in Jerusalem.

Biography

Born Nakhman Shaykevich in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, Shai gained a BA in history and political science and an MA in communications from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, 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. ...

, where he also studied in the School of

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

. He studied communications at the World Press Institute in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, and worked as a research fellow in the Shorenstein Center in the JFK School of Government at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 2009 Nachman obtained a Ph.D. in political science and communications from Bar Ilan University and his thesis, on "Public Diplomacy and Low Intensity Conflict", was awarded the 2012 Tshetshik Prize for Security Studies by Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies. During his 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 ...

he served in a

Nahal Nahal () (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training in entrepr ...

unit, worked in Israel Army Radio as its commander and chief editor, and served as the IDF spokesman between 1988 and 1991, reaching the rank of Brigadier-General. During the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

of 1991, when Israel was targeted by

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

i missiles, his job was to calm Israelis in sealed rooms. He is remembered for instructing concerned citizens to "drink water". In 1979 he became press secretary for the Israeli delegation to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

in New York, and in 1981 he was named press consultant to Israel's Washington embassy. In 1991 he founded The Second Authority for Television and Radio and served as its Director General. He was also chairman of the board of directors of the Israel Television News Company, chairman 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 ...

(IBA) and Director General of the Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport. He later served as Senior Vice-President of

United Jewish Communities The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization for the Jewish Federations system, representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North Ameri ...

(UJC) and Director-General of UJC Israel. Prior to the 2009 elections he joined

Kadima Kadima () was a centrist and liberal political party in Israel. It was established on 24 November 2005 by moderates from Likud largely following the implementation of Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan in August 2005, and was soon ...

, saying "I think there is a time to come down from the stands and enter the playing field. I know the field well and I have been involved in many ways, but I decided this time to become a player". Kadima Chairwoman,

Tzipi Livni Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni (, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), foreign mini ...

, presented Shai at Kadima's Knesset faction, saying he was "part of the attractive face Kadima wants to show the electorate" and that he would be able to contribute to Kadima on issues pertaining to the Jewish world,

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

and the Diaspora. Shai was placed eighteenth on the party list and entered the Knesset as the party won 28 seats. Shai left to join the Labor Party prior to the January 2013 elections. Placed 14th on the party's list, he was re-elected as Labor won 15 seats. In 2013 Shai published a book in Hebrew called ''Milḥamedia'' ("Media War") dealing largely with the treatment by the media of the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its Israeli-occupied territories, occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and October 2000 prot ...

. Prior to the March 2021 elections Shai was placed eighth on the Labor Party list. He failed to enter the

as the party won seven seats. When Israel's 36th government was formed, Labor leader Merav Michaeli named Shai her party's nominee for Minister of Diaspora Affairs; the nomination was confirmed on 12 June.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shai, Nachman 1946 births Harvard University faculty Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni Army Radio commanders Israel Defense Forces spokespersons Israeli Jews Israeli journalists Kadima politicians Israeli Labor Party politicians Zionist Union politicians Living people Politicians from Jerusalem Journalists from Jerusalem Bar-Ilan University alumni Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) Deputy speakers of the Knesset Government ministers of Israel Jerusalem School of Business Administration alumni