Israeli envoy presents credentials to president

Israel’s new ambassador to Greece, Noam Katz, presented his credentials to President Katerina Sakellaropoulou at the Presidential Mansion in Athens on Monday. A career diplomat since 1994, Katz, 58, succeeds Yossi Amrani, who had served since 2019. “[Katz] plans to focus on strengthening relations in the areas of politics, innovation and technology, trade and business, tourism, agriculture, environment, religion and culture. He looks forward to working together with Israel’s Greek partners on issues related to security, regional stability and energy,” a statement from the embassy said. Prior to coming to Athens, Katz served as the senior director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. He headed the Public Diplomacy Directorate and was responsible for Israel’s public diplomacy throughout the world tasked with developing communication and messaging strategies. The new ambassador previously served as the minister of public diplomacy at the Embassy in Washington DC (2009-2014), director of public affairs at the Ministry (2007-2009), ambassador to Nigeria, Ghana and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOW

AS) (2002-2007), ministry deputy spokesman (2000) and spokesman at Israel’s Embassy in Rome (1998-2000). Before that, he was posted in the departments of Eastern Europe and Central and West Africa and in Lagos, Nigeria. Katz holds a BA in history and an MA in public policy and management from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. An infantry commander in the Israeli Defense Forces, he rose to the rank of major as a reservist. He taught high school history and civics at Kibbutz Kabri, where he lived for several years before joining the diplomatic corps. He is married, with three children.