Tsuriel Raphael (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: צוריאל רפאל, born in 1952 in the United States) is an Israeli diplomat. He was recalled from the post of

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

and non-resident ambassador to

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

following an incident in early 2007. It was his first ambassadorial posting as a career Israeli foreign service officer.

Early life and education

Raphael was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 1952 and moved to Israel with his parents and brother in 1971.Biography from the embassy website (in Spanish)
Israeli government site; accessed 2007-03-14 He studied at

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 ...

and in 1976 he received his B.A. in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. Afterwards he served 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 ...

Career

In November 1981, Raphael started working at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs in

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

. Two years later, in 1983, he was part of the Israeli delegation to the 38th session of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

; afterwards, he was posted to the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. In July 1990, Raphael was named to serve as Consul for Public Affairs for Israel's Consulate General to the Southwestern United States, based in

, and later served as Deputy Consul General in the mid 1990s at Israel's Consulate General in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. From 1998 to 2002 Raphael served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Israel in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. He returned to Jerusalem in 2002, working as the director of the Israel Information Center, a department of the Foreign Ministry. His main responsibility included the preparation, editing and distribution of informational policy papers.

2007 incident

In 2006 Raphael was appointed ambassador to El Salvador and non resident ambassador to Belize. On 12 March 2007, it was announced that Raphael would be recalled after being found outside the embassy in

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

, drunk, hands tied, and mostly naked wearing only bondage gear. Police were able to determine his identity after removing a rubber

ball gag A gag is a device used in sexual bondage and BDSM roleplay. Gags are usually associated with roleplays involving bondage, but that is not necessarily the case. The person who wears the gag is regarded as the submissive partner, while the other ...

from his mouth. Israel recalled him for "behavior that is unbecoming of a diplomat."Israel recalls 'naked ambassador'
BBC website: Monday, 12 March 2007, 11:37 GMT

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raphael, Tsuriel Ambassadors of Israel to El Salvador Ambassadors of Israel to Belize 20th-century American Jews American emigrants to Israel Tel Aviv University alumni 1952 births Living people Israeli consuls