Israel Appoints its First Arab Christian Ambassador
Israel’s most interesting diplomat just got a historic promotion. The 34-year-old George Deek will soon become the first Arab Christian ambassador in Israeli history. Deek, who is a former Fulbright fellow and an expert in international law, isn’t getting one of the easier postings either: He’ll be Israel’s lead representative in Azerbaijan, a Muslim-majority country that borders Iran and has been at war with its neighbor Armenia for over 25 years.
Deek seems like he’s up to the task. He’s been called “Israel’s best diplomat,” and an address he gave in September 2014 for the launch of a book by the prestigious Israeli historian Benny Morris, when Deek was serving as change d’affairs in Norway, has been hailed as the best ever delivered by an Israeli diplomat. Tablet columnist Lee Smith moderated a discussion with Deek at the Hudson Institute in 2015 and later called Deek “one of the most original thinkers I’ve ever had the pleasure to speak with.” He’s known for his poise and equanimity, two important qualities in a would-be ambassador: In March of 2016, Deek responded to a jeering crowd in a UC Davis lecture hall by calmly writing out an appeal for dialogue on a nearby chalkboard.
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