You’re invited to the UJA 2014 Campaign Kick Off!
We are honored to have His Excellency, the Israeli Ambassador to Canada, Rafael Barak on his first official visit to the Atlantic Region as our Keynote speaker.
Event Details
Place: Shaar Shalom Synagogue — 1981 Oxford St Halifax, NS B3H 4A4
Date: Tuesday, August 19th
Time: 8 pm
About Rafael Barak
Ambassador Rafael “Rafi” Barak is an accomplished diplomat with extensive expertise in promoting Israel’s diplomatic ties around the globe. He is also a proficient linguist who is fluent in Hebrew, Spanish, English and French.
Born in Uruguay, Mr. Barak immigrated to Israel at the age of 18, spending his first year on a kibbutz. He went on to complete his military service and then earn a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science at Tel Aviv University in 1973. In 1977, he was accepted into the Cadet Course of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He began his career as a diplomat with his first posting from 1979 to 1983 as Second and later First Secretary at the Embassy of Israel in Lima, Peru. In 1983, he received a scholarship from the Rothschild Foundation and completed a Master of Arts degree in Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1987, he started a six-year term in Brussels as Counselor and Press Attaché at Israel’s Mission to the European Community and then as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Israel in Belgium and Luxembourg. During the Oslo Peace Process, from 1993 to 1996, Mr. Barak worked as the Chief Coordinator for negotiations with the Palestinians. Parallel to this position, he served as Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) for Coordination and the Director of the Deputy Minister’s Bureau from 1993 to 2000.
Then in August of 2000, he was sent to the Embassy in Washington, DC for a five-year term as Minister Plenipotentiary and Deputy Chief of Mission.
He returned to Israel in April 2007 to serve as ADM and Head of the Western European Division. From June 2009 to November 2010, he held the position of Senior ADM at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In November 2010, he was appointed Acting Deputy Minister and then in May 2011 he was named Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On November 25, 2013, he officially became the Ambassador of Israel to Canada after presenting his credentials to His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada. He is married to Miriam Barak. Together they have three children and five grandchildren
Live Stream
If you’re outside of Halifax and can’t make it to the event, we’ll have a live stream embedded right here for you to watch.