Rafael Harpaz


Rafael Harpaz is an Israeli diplomat in the Israeli Foreign Service. He started serving in August 2018 as the :he:ישראל|Israeli :he:שגריר|Ambassador to the :he:הפיליפינים|Philippines. From 2012 to 2015, he served as the Israeli Ambassador to :he:אזרבייג'ן|Azerbaijan.

Personal Background

Rafael Harpaz was born in 1962 in :he:ירושלים|Jerusalem. As a child, he lived for one year in :he:מילאנו|Milan, :he:איטליה|Italy where his family was in a mission at the Jewish community.
Harpaz's father, :he:ניסן_הרפז|Nissan Harpaz, was the Secretary General of the :he:ההסתדרות_הכללית_של_העובדים_בארץ_ישראל|Histadrut Trade Union in Jerusalem and won the prestigious :he:יקיר_ירושלים|honor of the city of Jerusalem for his activities in the field of education. His father also served as a member of the Jerusalem City Council.
On June 7, 1967, the day of the liberation of the :he:הכותל_המערבי|Western Wall by Israel during the :he:מלחמת_ששת_הימים|Six Day War, his father, being a reserve education officer, brought the first Torah scroll to the Wailing Wall. There is a street named after his father in Jerusalem. His father's family was originally from Poland and Belarus.
Harpaz's mother, Rachel Harpaz is a piano teacher, painter, writer and poet. Her family originated from Iraq and Russia.
Harpaz grew up in the :he:בית_הכרם|Beit HaKerem neighbourhood of Jerusalem and was a member and councilor of the :he:תנועת_הצופים|Scout Movement.
Rafael Harpaz attended Beit HaKerem Elementary School in Jerusalem. He studied at the :he:בית_הספר_התיכון_על_שם_מיי_בויאר|Boyar High School in Jerusalem.
He served in the :he:צבא_הגנה_לישראל|Israel Defense Forces from 1980 to 1983.
He is married to Shulamit Harpaz and is the father of three children: Assaf, Yoav and Gil.

Academic Studies

Harpaz graduated from the Department of :he:יחסים_בינלאומיים|International Relations at :he:האוניברסיטה_העברית_בירושלים|Hebrew University in 1987 with a B.A. Degree in International Relations.
From 1987 to 1989, Harpaz participated in the Bank Hapoalim Management Training Course.
Harpaz studied in the academic course of the :he:יד_הנדיב|Rothschild Foundation at Hebrew University in 1991 during a special semester dedicated to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs cadets.
In 2004, he attended a senior course at the :he:המזרח_הקרוב|Near East South :he:אסיה|Asia Center of the :he:האוניברסיטה_לביטחון_לאומי|National Defense University in :he:וושינגטון_די._סי.|Washington D.C., :he:ארצות_הברית|United States.
Harpaz obtained an M.A. Degree in 2017 in the Executive Program on Diplomacy and Security Studies at :he:אוניברסיטת_תל_אביב|Tel Aviv University with distinction.

Career

Early Years

Harpaz worked as a counselor at the Education Center of the Youth and Hechalutz Department of the :he:ההסתדרות_הציונית_העולמית|World Zionist Organization and a counselor at the Year Course program of the :he:יהודה_הצעיר|Young Judaea movement in the United States. In addition, Harpaz worked as a counselor at Jewish summer camps in :he:טורונטו|Toronto, Canada and in :he:הרטפורד|Hartford :he:קונטיקט|Connecticut, United States.
In 1987, he served as the assistant to the Chairman of the Jerusalem Trade Association.
From 1987 to 1989, he participated in the :he:בנק_הפועלים|Bank Hapoalim management training course.

At the Foreign Service

In 1989, he was admitted to the :he:קורס_הצוערים_של_משרד_החוץ|Foreign Ministry cadet course and, upon completion, joined the :he:שירות_החוץ_הישראלי|Foreign Service.
He served as the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Israeli Embassy in :he:אביג'אן|Abidjan, :he:חוף_השנהב|Ivory Coast.

Service in Switzerland

Harpaz served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in :he:ברן|Bern, :he:שווייץ|Switzerland.
He coordinated the efforts of the Embassy regarding the assets held by Swiss banks that belonged to Holocaust victims as well as the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the :he:הקונגרס_הציוני_העולמי_הראשון|First Zionist Congress in Basel.
Harpaz also coordinated the efforts of the Israeli government to obtain from the Swiss National Archive the names of Jewish refugees whose entry into the country was denied during WWII.

Service in Sweden

Harpaz served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in :he:סטוקהולם|Stockholm, :he:שוודיה|Sweden.
He coordinated Prime Minister :he:אהוד_ברק|Ehud Barak's visit to Sweden for the first meeting of the International Holocaust Forum. It was the first visit of an Israeli Prime Minister to Sweden in 38 years.
In December 2002, as the chargé d'affaires of the Israeli Embassy while in Sweden, Harpaz served as the official escort at the Nobel Price ceremony of Israeli-American Professor and :he:פרס_מדעי_הכלכלה_לזכרו_של_אלפרד_נובל|Nobel Prize laureate for Economy :he:דניאל_כהנמן|Daniel Kahneman. The ceremony took place in the Stockholm City Hall.

Service in Washington D.C.

Harpaz served at the Israeli Embassy in :he:וושינגטון_די._סי.|Washington, D.C. as the Minister for :he:דיפלומטיה_ציבורית|public diplomacy and was in charge of the bilateral relations between Israel and the states of :he:מרילנד|Maryland and :he:וירג'יניה|Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia.
He coordinated Israel's 60th Independence Day Celebration, the highlight of which was the event at Washington National Mall attended by approximately 70,000 people.

Ambassador to Azerbaijain

From 2012-2015, Harpaz served as the Israeli :he:שגריר|Ambassador to :he:אזרבייג'ן|Azerbaijan.
He presented his credentials to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on September 5, 2012.
In 2013, he accompanied Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on a visit to Israel. This was the first official visit of an Azerbaijaini :he:משרד_החוץ#%D7%A9%D7%A8_%D7%94%D7%97%D7%95%D7%A5|Foreign Minister to :he:ישראל|Israel since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1993.
In September 2013, Harpaz signed an agreement on health cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel's International Development Cooperation Agency MASHAV.
In 2014, he coordinated the visit of Israel's Foreign Minister :he:אביגדור_ליברמן|Avigdor Lieberman to Baku. In media interviews, Harpaz defined Israel-Azerbaijan relations as "strategic relations", with cooperation in many areas.
In September 2014, Harpaz coordinated the visit of Israeli Defense Minister :he:משה_יעלון|Mosha Ya’Alon to Azerbaijan, the first such visit ever.
At the end of September 2014, Harpaz toured the U.S. accompanied by Azerbaijan's Ambassador to the U.S. Elin Suleymanov. The tour included meetings and lectures with government officials, members of Congress, organizations, media, and Jewish communities in Washington D.C., :he:פילדלפיה|Philadelphia, and New York.
The joint tour of the two ambassadors was coordinated by the :he:הוועד_היהודי-האמריקאי|American Jewish Community.
In December 2014, Harpaz signed the visa waiver agreement for holders of official passports between the two countries.

Ambassador to the Philippines

In November 2017, Harpaz was appointed as the Israeli Ambassador to the :he:הפיליפינים|Philippines.
He presented his :he:כתב_האמנה|credentials to the :he:נשיא|President of the Philippines, :he:רודריגו_דוטרטה|Rodrigo Roa Duterte, on August 31, 2018.
Immediately after the credentials ceremony, he accompanied President Duterte during his September 2018 visit to Israel. It was the first visit by a sitting Filipino President to Israel. During the visit, Harpaz accompanied President Duterte in his meetings with President :he:ראובן_ריבלין|Reuben Rivlin and Prime Minister :he:בנימין_נתניהו|Benjamin Netanyahu.
In July 2019, Harpaz signed a framework agreement of cooperation between the Department of Agriculture of the Philippines and Israel's International Development Cooperation Agency :he:המרכז_לשיתוף_פעולה_בינלאומי|MASHAV.
On August 19, 2019, Harpaz was the keynote speaker at the annual celebration of former President Manuel Quezon's birthday. President Quezon is known as the one who opened the doors of the Philippines to Jewish refugees during the Holocaust. Approximately 1,300 Jews took refuge in the Philippines during World War II. During the war, President Quezon opened his house in the city of Marikina to the Jewish refugees who came to the Philippines. In recognition of this, Harpaz, together with Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro, planted six trees at the site of President Quezon's home on September 25, 2019, to commemorate the six million Holocaust victims.
On June 2, 2020, Harpaz delivered an Israeli donation of medical supplies to the Philippine government to help combat the coronavirus. An official turnover ceremony was held at the Philippine Air Force headquarters attended by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
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