Mordechai David Palzur (born 1929,

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. From 1975 to 1998, it was the capital of the Tarnów ...

, Poland) is an Israeli former military officer, diplomat and chairman of the WJC Institute.

Biography

Palzur immigrated to Palestine in 1943, going on to study law at the Tel-Aviv School of Law and Economics and later, law, international relations and political science at the

Hebrew University of 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 ...

Military career

Palzur was injured while serving as an officer during the

1947–1949 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. It is known in Israel as the War of Independence ( he, מלחמת העצמאות, ''Milkhemet Ha'Atzma'ut'') and ...

and was released from military service in 1949. He returned to serve on the

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

during the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

. He has been awarded Israeli military distinctions including the Order of the

Haganah Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the ...

; Fighters of the State of Israel; Independence Star; and the Six-Day War ribbon.

Diplomatic career

Palzur joined the Foreign Service in 1950 and served in Mexico as Consul (1961–64), in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

as Counselor and Chargé d'Affairs (1969–71), Chargé d'Affairs to Cyprus (1971–74). Because of his efforts at rescuing Israeli journalists during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, Palzur was cited for gallantry by the Israeli Foreign Minister, General Yigal Allon. From 1975–78 he served as Ambassador to Bolivia, 1982–86 Ambassador to the Dominican Republic,

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two maj ...

, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago and

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

. When he was appointed to Warsaw in 1986, he was “the first Israeli diplomat to serve behind the Iron Curtain since the severance of diplomatic relations by Communist countries as a result of the Six-Day War” serving as Ambassador until 1990.

References

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