David "Dave" Kimche (14 February 1928 – 8 March 2010) was an Israeli diplomat, deputy director of the

Mossad Mossad ( , ), ; ar, الموساد, al-Mōsād, ; , short for ( he, המוסד למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים, links=no), meaning 'Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations'. is the national intelligence agency ...

spymaster A spymaster is the person that leads a spy ring, or a secret service (such as an intelligence agency). Historical spymasters See also *List of American spies *List of British spies * List of German spies *List of fictional spymasters This is ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. He is believed to have been the main contact between the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

during the Iran-Contra affair. Kimche was president of the

Israel Council on Foreign Relations The Israel Council on Foreign Relations (ICFR) is an independent, non-partisan forum for the study and debate of foreign policy issues, especially those relating to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The ICFR publishes a triannual policy a ...

, and a member of the steering committee of the International Alliance for Arab-Israel Peace.

Biography

David Kimche was born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. His birth was registered in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

between January and March 1928, with his mother's maiden name given as Palast. In addition to holding an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(cum laude) and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Kimche studied at the Centre de Hautes Etudes Administratives sur l’Afrique et l’Asie Modernes (C.H.E.A.M.) of the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. Kimche died of

brain cancer A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...

at his home in

Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon ( he, רָמַת הַשָּׁרוֹן, ''lit.'' '' Sharon Heights'', ar, رمات هشارون) is a city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon region, bordering Tel Aviv to the south, Hod HaSharon t ...

, near Tel Aviv, on 8 March 2010 at the age of 82.

Diplomatic and public career

Kimche joined

, Israel's foreign intelligence service, in 1953. While in the foreign intelligence service, he served in a number of postings in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Kimche moved up the ranks to eventually become Mossad's deputy director. In 1980 Kimche left Israel's foreign intelligence service. He became the

director-general A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a government ...

of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

, holding that post from 1980 to 1987. Kimche was appointed ambassador-at-large of

the State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 1987 and served a number of missions, especially in

Arab countries The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western As ...

. During his tenure, Kimche would often engage in backchannel diplomacy when the political context required subtlety. In an article written in ''The Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs'', Nir Levitan wrote the following about his career: “Kimche strongly believed that what seemed impossible could be made possible, and he accomplished just that in his long and distinguished career.… Kimche was one of the foremost secret emissaries in service of the State of Israel at a time when backchannel diplomacy was the only way forward to a more peaceful future.” In 1989, Kimche founded the Israel Council on Foreign Relations under the auspices of the

World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...

to serve as a policy forum for visiting dignitaries and scholars. Kimche became the publisher of a bimonthly journal, the

Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs The Israel Council on Foreign Relations (ICFR) is an independent, non-partisan forum for the study and debate of foreign policy issues, especially those relating to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. The ICFR publishes a triannual policy a ...

. He was a member of the

board of governors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...

and management committee of the

Hebrew University in Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

, board of governors of the Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, and

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of ''

Maariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and '' Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, ...

'' (a daily

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

published in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

) and a member of the executive board of the

Peres Center for Peace The Peres Center for Peace, located in Jaffa, Israel, is an independent non-profit, non-governmental, and non-political organization founded in 1996 by Nobel Peace Laureate and former President of Israel Shimon Peres. Its aim is to further Pere ...

Author

He published a number of non-fiction books during his life, many co-authored with his brother

Jon Kimche Jon Kimche (17 June 1909 – 9 March 1994) was a journalist and historian. A Swiss Jew, he arrived in England at the age of 12, becoming involved in the Independent Labour Party as a young man. In 1934–35, he worked with George Orwell in ...

: *(1955): with Jon Kimche, ''The Secret Roads: The "Illegal" Migration of a People, 1938-1948'' (with plates, including portraits, and a map). New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy. *(1960): with Jon Kimche, ''Both Sides of the Hill: Britain and the Palestine War''. London: Secker & Warburg. Re-published as: **(1960): with Jon Kimche, ''A Clash of Destinies: The Arab-Jewish War and the Founding of the State of Israel''. New York: Praeger. *(1968): with Dan Bawly, ''The Sandstorm: The Arab-Israeli War of 1967: Prelude and Aftermath''. London: Secker & Warburg. (Re-published as ''Six-Day War: Prologue and Aftermath'' in 1971.) *(1969): with Jon Kimche, ''La premiere guerre d'Israel 1948: 16 cartes''. Paris: Arthaud. *(1973). ''Afro-Asian Movement: Ideology and Policy of the Third World''. Jerusalem: Israel University Press. *(1991): ''The Last Option: After Nasser, Arafat & Saddam Hussein - The Quest for Peace in the Middle East''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

References

External links

*http://www.haaretz.com/news/israeli-spymaster-and-mossad-founding-father-david-kimche-dies-at-82-1.266398 *David Kimche, 1928-2010 – the man who walked in the shadows https://web.archive.org/web/20110713123252/http://new.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=170592 *Geneva accord official site http://www.geneva-accord.org/mainmenu/dr-david-kimche {{DEFAULTSORT:Kimche, David Spymasters Deaths from brain cancer in Israel Israeli diplomats Israeli people of British-Jewish descent Israeli–Palestinian peace process Iran–Contra affair 1928 births 2010 deaths British emigrants to Israel People of the Mossad Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Social Sciences alumni Diplomats from London