Gideon Rafael
Gideon Rafael | |
---|---|
Diplomatic roles | |
1957–1960 | Ambassador of Israel to Belgium and Luxembourg |
1967 | Permanent Representative to the UN |
1967-1971 | Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
1974-1977 | Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom |
Personal details | |
Born | Berlin, German Empire | 5 March 1913
Died | 10 February 1999 Jerusalem, Israel | (aged 85)
Alma mater | Humboldt University of Berlin |
Gideon Rafael (
Biography
Gideon Ruffer (later Rafael) was born as Georg Ruffer in Berlin, Germany, to a Jewish family, the son of a prosperous furrier. He studied law at the University of Berlin. In 1933, when the Nazis rose to power in Germany, he escaped to France, where he studied at an agricultural school in Toulouse, and in 1934, he made aliyah to Palestine, where he was one of the founders of kibbutz HaZore'a.
Rafael joined the
During
In 1947, he became a member of the Jewish Agency's delegation to the United Nations.
Rafael married Nurit Weissberg, and the couple had a son, Amnon, and two daughters, Michal and Ruth. Rafael died in 1999 at the age of 85. As he had willed that his body be donated to science after his death, there was no funeral.[3] At the time of his death, he had seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.[2][1]
Diplomatic career
Upon Israeli independence in 1948, he was one of three founding members of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, along with Moshe Sharett, Israel's first Foreign Minister, and a secretary. Rafael served as an aide to Sharett. In May 1948, he was assigned to draw up a list of world capitals to be officially informed of Israel's establishment. He was then sent to New York as an aide to Abba Eban, Israel's first representative and spokesman at the United Nations.[4] In 1953, he returned to Israel, and was in charge of United Nations and Middle Eastern affairs at the Israeli Foreign Ministry until 1957. He conducted secret negotiations with Arab officials, and maintained these secret contacts into the 1970s.[1]
In 1957, he was appointed Israel's ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, and permanent observer in European and UN institutions in Geneva. He served in these positions until 1960. In 1967, he became Israeli ambassador to the UN, and was serving in this position during the Six-Day War. In 1968, he returned to Israel, and was Director-General of the Foreign Ministry until 1972.[1]
In 1973, he was appointed Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom, and served in this position until 1977, when he returned to Israel and retired. He subsequently published a book about his career.[1]