Ambassador (Rt.) Shemi Tzur

Ambassador Shemi Tzur has had the personal rank of Ambassador since April 2006. He was previously a Political Counselor at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Information and Media Department. Tsur participated as a member of the Advisory Staff of the Israel Delegation to the Middle East Peace Talks in Madrid and, in continuation, in Moscow and Washington. He has held a wide variety of positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Vice-consul in Johannesburg, followed by two years as Second Secretary of the Embassy in Pretoria, Vice Consul in Turkey at the Consulate General of Israel in Istanbul. He worked in the Information and Media Department of the Ministry, as the Consul at the Consulate General of Israel in Sydney, Australia, Acting Ambassador to Fiji and Chargé d'affaires ad interim. He opened the Embassy of Israel in Uzbekistan and was instrumental in the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two counties. He served as the Ambassador of Israel to Cyprus and was presented with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Award for Excellent Performance and Appreciation. He served as the Director of Human Resources for the Ministry, as Ambassador to Finland and Estoni, Acting Ambassador to Angola and Mozambique, Director for Central Asia and Caucasus Division of the Ministry, Ambassador Non-resident to Turkmenistan and the Republic of Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, Ambassador to New Zealand and non-resident to Tonga, Samoa and Cook Islands. He was the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Turkmenistan.