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Amit Mekel
Israeli diplomat (born 1980) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Amit Mekel (Hebrew: עמית מקל; born Amit Makalda, 20 February 1980) is an Israeli diplomat. Since October 2024, he is the Israeli Ambassador to Paraguay.[1]
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Early life and education
Mekel was born Amit Makalda, in the Druze village of Daliyat al-Karmel on 20 February 1980.[2] At 14, he moved to Haifa, to study at the Hugim High School.[2] He served as a paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces for five years and then went to graduate with a bachelor's degree in diplomacy and strategy at Reichman University and a master's degree in diplomacy and security at Tel Aviv University.[2] He is pursuing a doctorate at the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.
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Diplomatic career
Mekel's first diplomatic mission was as spokesperson at the Israeli embassy of Cairo, followed by three years as the vice consul general in Sao Paulo, Brazil.[2][3] He then served as advisor for the Middle East peace process in the Israeli delegation to the European Union and NATO in Brussels, Belgium,[2][4] followed by serving as the deputy director of European International Division in Israel.[2]
Mekel's first major post was as deputy chief of mission in the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles,[5] making him the first Druze and non-Jewish diplomat to hold a senior role representing Israel in the Pacific Southwest.[3][6] For his contribution to socialization and human rights in this position, he received an honorary doctorate from the Latin University of Theology.[7] In 2024 he was appointed Israeli Ambassador to Paraguay,[1] and he presented his credentials to Santiago Peña, the president of Paraguay on 6 November 2024.[8]
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Personal life
Mekel has been married to Keren since 2010, and is the father of three children.[9] Married to a Jewish woman, Mekel chose to raise his children as Jewish, adopting the surname Mekel after his first child's birth.[2] He speaks Hebrew, Arabic, English and Portuguese.[10] In 2024 he released the book The Journey to Israeliness (המסע לישראליות), which tells his life journey.[2]
References
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