Moshe Arad (15 August 1934 – October 25, 2019) was a former ambassador from

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 ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

(1983–1987) and an ambassador from Israel to the United States (1987–1990). He emigrated to Israel in 1950. While Israel's Ambassador to the United States, he accused the group

Al-Haq Al-Haq () is an independent Palestinian human rights organization based in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank. Founded in 1979, Al-Haq monitors and documents human rights violations committed by parties to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict ...

of being a front for

Yasser Arafat Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...

’s

PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establishing Arab unity and s ...

and stated that "most of its members are supporters of

Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...

and other members of the PLO terrorist organization." Arad served on the board 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 ...

. He was the father of

Michael Arad Michael Arad (Hebrew: מיכאל ארד) is an Israeli-American architect who is best known for being the designer of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. He won the competition to design the memorial in 2004. Early life and education ...

, the designer of the

World Trade Center Memorial The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bomb ...

, and Odelia Sidi.

Personal life

Arad was born on 15 August 1934 in Cetate,

Dolj County Dolj County (; originally meant ''Dol(no)- Jiu'', "lower Jiu", as opposed to ''Gorj'' (''upper Jiu'')) is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova. Demographics In 2011, the cou ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. He died on 25 October 2019 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 ...

Eulogy

Ambassador

Colette Avital Colette Avital ( he, קולט אביטל, born 1 May 1939) is a Romanian-Israeli diplomat and politician. She served as a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party and One Israel between 1999 and 2009. Biography Born in Bucharest, Romania, Avit ...

described Arad as "soft-spoken and modest, yet strong-willed, determined, and energetic". Endearingly called "Puiu" by his colleagues, Arad she noted, was "open minded and receptive to new ideas". When thinking of Israel's image abroad, for example, he helped support a "Jerusalem unit", designed to educate the public about the Jewish connection to the city. After serving as the ambassador to Mexico and to the United States, Arad was named Director-General of the Ministry of Communications, and after retiring Vice President of Hebrew University for International Relations, and founder of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations, among being on the board of many other companies. Arad's "affability, easy temperament, and unfettered accessibility also made him one of the most popular figures in the Jewish world" she said.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arad, Moshe Ambassadors of Israel to the United States 1934 births 2019 deaths Romanian emigrants to Israel Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Ambassadors of Israel to Mexico