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Dani Dayan ( he, דני דיין; born 29 November 1955) is an Argentine-Israeli entrepreneur and
Consul General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
of Israel in New York since August 2016 and
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
chairman since August 2021. Dayan is an advocate for the establishment and maintenance of
Israeli settlements Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
in the
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
. He served as the Chairman of the
Yesha Council The Yesha Council ( he, מועצת יש"ע, ''Mo'etzet Yesha'', which is the Hebrew acronym for Yehuda Shomron, Aza, lit. "Judea Samaria and Gaza Council") is an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Ban ...
from 2007 to 2013. In 2013, he resigned as Chairman of the Yesha Council to endorse
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
for Prime Minister. Dayan was subsequently appointed as Chief Foreign Envoy of the Yesha Council, as the only official representative of the Israeli settlement movement to the international community. After a diplomatic stand-off over its assignment of former settler leader Dayan as ambassador to Brazil without consulting the government of Brasilia, Israel backed off and in March 2016 assigned Dayan as Consul General of Israel in New York.Israel Changes Tack After Standoff With Brazil Over Dani Dayan
''The New York Times'', March 28, 2016
Described by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' as "worldly and pragmatic""A Settler Leader, Worldly and Pragmatic"
/ref> and "the most effective leader the settlers have had." Dayan is perceived by many to be the face of the Israeli settlement movement to the international community. His writing appears in many publications, including ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', The ''Los Angeles Times'', ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'', ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', ''Breitbart'', ''
Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...
'', ''
The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.
'' and ''
The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the pap ...
''.


Early life

Dayan was born in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
. "Done fighting the White House, settlers' 'foreign minister' vies for Knesset seat," Raphael Ahren, ''Times of Israel''
/ref> He and his family immigrated to Israel in 1971, when he was 15, settling in the
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 ...
neighborhood of Yad Eliyahu. Dayan spent 7.5 years in the Israeli Army. He is a cousin of journalist
Ilana Dayan Ilana Dayan-Orbach ( he, אילנה דיין-אורבך; born 8 May 1964) is an Israeli investigative journalist, anchorwoman, and attorney. She is best known as host of the investigative television program ("Fact") on the Israeli Channel 12. B ...
. Dayan holds a B.Sc in Economics and Computer Science from
Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...
, and an M.Sc in Finance from the
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
. He is a
Major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...
(Res.) in the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
. Despite being a key figure in the largely religious settlement movement, Dayan is
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
, although not an atheist. He lives in Ma'ale Shomron, an
Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
in the
West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
.


Business career

In 1982, Dayan established an
information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...
firm "Elad Systems", which he headed, first as
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
and later as Chairman, until 2005, when he sold his interests in the company. He continues to invest in high-tech companies and serves as a lecturer at
Ariel University Ariel University ( he, אוניברסיטת אריאל), previously a public college known as the Ariel University Center of Samaria, is an Israeli university located in the urban Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank. The college preced ...
.


Political career

Dayan was the Secretary-General of the
Tehiya Tehiya ( he, תחיה, ''Revival''), originally known as Banai (Hebrew: , an acronym for ''Land of Israel Loyalists' Alliance'' (Hebrew: )), then Tehiya-Bnai (Hebrew: ), was an ultranationalist political party in Israel. The party existed from ...
political party, and was a candidate to the
Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (wit ...
on its list in the Israeli legislative elections in
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...
and
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...
. Dayan was a member on the Executive Committee of the
Yesha Council The Yesha Council ( he, מועצת יש"ע, ''Mo'etzet Yesha'', which is the Hebrew acronym for Yehuda Shomron, Aza, lit. "Judea Samaria and Gaza Council") is an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Ban ...
for eight years, before being elected as Chairman on July 13, 2007. As Chairman he led the settlers' struggle against the Settlement freeze in 2010. Following his election, Dayan began transforming the council into an effective political lobby, modeled on American political lobbies. Dayan resigned in 2013, but at the same time created a new post for himself as the foreign face of the settler movement. He opposes a
two-state solution The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotiation ...
, and believes that holding onto the West Bank is in Israel's best interest. Dayan attempted a run for the Knesset on the
Jewish Home The Jewish Home ( he, הַבַּיִת הַיְהוּדִי, HaBayit HaYehudi) is an Orthodox Jewish and religious Zionist political party in Israel. It was originally formed by a merger of the National Religious Party, Moledet, and Tkuma in ...
slate in the March 2015 elections. Ultimately, he was not elected. In the
2021 Israeli legislative election Legislative elections were held in Israel on 23 March 2021 to elect the 120 members of the 24th Knesset. It was the fourth election in two years. Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett announced that they had formed a rotation government on 2 June 20 ...
, Dayan was placed on the eleventh spot of the New Hope Party List.


Diplomatic career

In 2015 Dayan was appointed by Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
to be the Israeli ambassador to
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, pending approval of the Brazilian government. Concerned with his political trajectory as a representative of Israeli settlement communities, the Brazilian government delayed its approval of Dayan's appointment over months, sparking a diplomatic crisis between both countries. Furthermore, his appointment faced opposition by leftist sectors of the political coalition governing Brazil, as well as social movements. In January 2016, 40 retired Brazilian ambassadors from all political spheres released a manifesto supporting the Brazilian government. Brazil's reluctance to approve Dayan as Israel's Ambassador developed into a diplomatic rift between the two countries. In December 2015, Israel's acting Foreign Minister MK
Tzipi Hotovely Tzipi Hotovely ( he, צִיפִּי חוֹטוֹבֵלִי, born 2 December 1978) is an Israeli diplomat and former politician who serves as the current Ambassador of Israel to the United Kingdom. She served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affair ...
announced that steps would be taken to apply more pressure on Brazil to approve the appointment of Dayan to the post. The standoff continued until March 2016, when Israel backed off and assigned Dayan as
Consul General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
of Israel in New York.


Personal life

Dayan is married to Einat Dayan, a former political activist who works as the director of strategy, marketing, and sales at
Ariel University Ariel University ( he, אוניברסיטת אריאל), previously a public college known as the Ariel University Center of Samaria, is an Israeli university located in the urban Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank. The college preced ...
. They have a daughter, Ofir, who served in the
IDF Spokesperson's Unit The IDF Spokesperson's Unit ( he, דובר צה"ל, ''Dover Tsahal'', abbr. Dotz) is the unit in the IDF Operations Directorate, responsible for information policy and media relations. The unit is led by the IDF Spokesperson, a brigadier general a ...
and is studying at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. His father was Ambassador
Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) dur ...
and his grandfather, Aryeh Dayan, was the cousin of Shmuel Dayan, who was the father of the Israeli general
Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) dur ...
. He is a cousin of journalist
Ilana Dayan Ilana Dayan-Orbach ( he, אילנה דיין-אורבך; born 8 May 1964) is an Israeli investigative journalist, anchorwoman, and attorney. She is best known as host of the investigative television program ("Fact") on the Israeli Channel 12. B ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dayan, Dani 1955 births Living people Argentine emigrants to Israel Argentine Jews Ariel University faculty Bar-Ilan University alumni Israeli businesspeople Israeli Jews Israeli people of Argentine-Jewish descent Israeli settlers People from Buenos Aires People from Tel Aviv Politics of Israel Secular Jews Tel Aviv University alumni Dayan family