Yigal Palmor () is the Head of the International Relations Unit and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Chairman at the

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

, where he had previously served for four years as Director of Public Affairs and Communications. He was the longest serving Spokesperson and Head of Press Bureau of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

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 ...

from August 2008 to August 2014. Prior to this post, he served stints in Israel's embassies in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

(where he was a junior member of the Israeli delegation to the

Madrid 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 ...

) and in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, served as Deputy Director of the European Institutions department, and later as Director of the

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

department. He was a spokesperson of the Israeli delegations in a number of peace summits, including the

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

and

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Regional Economic Summits and the

Annapolis Conference The Annapolis Conference was a Middle East peace conference held on 27 November 2007, at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. The conference aimed to revive the Israeli–Palestinian peace process and implement ...

. In January 2009 he was dubbed "my favourite diplomat" by Australian minister (Labour) Barry Cohen. In February 2013, he was elected "Best Government Spokesperson" in a survey of Israeli journalists. He made headlines when he called

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 ...

an "economic and cultural giant but a diplomatic dwarf" in July 2014, in response to Brazil being the only country at the time to recall its ambassador for consultations over Israel's military operation in Gaza, to shun attempts by President

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

to have a conversation with his Brazilian counterpart, and to push for condemnation at the UN. Rejected by the Brazilian President, his statement, however, encountered supportive follow-up in many of Brazil's leading media, who used it to criticize their own government's policy, while in Israel, it was Israeli president

Reuven Rivlin Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin ( ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. Rivlin was Minister of Communications from 2001 to 2003, and su ...

's apology that came under severe criticism itself. When the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

broke out in 2023, this quote was used again by Brazilian politicians and journalists to criticize their government's stance. On 27 May 2014, it was reported that his retirement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was imminent, after a career spanning 28 years. Dubbed "a central pole of Israel's communications apparatus", his departure was seen as part of a wave of senior diplomatic resignations due to the weakening of the Foreign Ministry under

Avigdor Lieberman Avigdor Lieberman (, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician who served as Ministry of Finance (Israel), Minister of Finance between 2021 and 2022, having previously served twice as Deputy Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to ...

. He left the Ministry in September 2014, and joined the Jewish Agency in November of that same year, where he worked closely with Agency's Chairman

Natan Sharansky Natan Sharansky (; born 20 January 1948) is an Israeli politician, human rights activist, and author. He served as Chairman of the Executive for the Jewish Agency for Israel, Jewish Agency from June 2009 to August 2018, and currently serves as ...

, and later with Chairman

Isaac Herzog Isaac "Bougie" Herzog (; born 22 September 1960) is an Israeli politician who has been serving since 2021 as the president of Israel. He is the first president to have been born in Israel after its Declaration of Independence. Son of former Is ...

and Chairman

Doron Almog Doron Almog (; born 1951 as Doron Avrotzky) is a former major general in the Israel Defense Forces reserves. In 2016, he received the Israel Prize for his lifetime of achievement.

. He initiated, on behalf of the Jewish Agency, th
Diasporas 2017 international conference
which convened Government ministers and officials from 29 countries around the world to discuss issues related to their national

diasporas A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

, the relations between diaspora and home country and cooperation between different national diasporas at home and abroad. In this groundbreaking event, participants presented their policies for contact with their diasporas, discussed how these policies are realized through a variety of initiatives, programs and partnerships, and explained the main challenges they face in developing these activities. This conference launched an ongoing cooperation between The Jewish Agency, the

Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs () is a government department of Greece, headed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The ministry has its headquarters in Athens. The incumbent minister is Giorgos Gerapetritis in the Second Cabin ...

, and the Presidential Commissioner for Cypriots Abroad. A number of trialateral summits were held, a joint mission of Greek and Cypriot diaspora leaders was hosted in Jerusalem at the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors, and a trialteral young diaspora leaders mission visited Jerusalem, Athens and Nicosia. He is the author of the "Diplomatic Cliché Collection" (הקלישאון הדיפלומטי), a compilation of conventional forms of speech in diplomatese and their real, ironic meaning. Or, as

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 ...

described it: "A semi-humorous paper intended to translate the euphemisms uttered by leaders, foreign ministers, diplomats and government spokespeople when they are faced with difficult questions". He has published articles in the international media on issues such as Israel's diplomacy, the Jewish Agency and antisemitism.

References

External links

* Ministry of Foreign Affair
Official website
* Ministry of Foreign Affair
Official website
* Ministry of Foreign Affair
Official website
* Israeli Missions Around the Worl

All Ministers in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Knesset website {{DEFAULTSORT:Palmor, Yigal Foreign relations of Israel Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People of the Jewish Agency for Israel Israeli spokespersons Israeli diplomats

See also

References

External links