Israel has appointed George Deek, an Israeli Christian Arab, as the country’s next Ambassador to Azerbaijan.
Deek is a long-time popular public speaker, particularly at AIPAC and StandWithUs events, as well as a gifted legal expert. He has been a professional attorney since 2007 and has been employed by the Foreign Ministry for more than a decade, serving most recently as an attorney in the ministry’s International Law Department since 2017.
Deek holds a Bachelors Degree in Government and Law from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya and was a Fulbright Scholar at Georgetown University, where he completed graduate studies in International Law, with honors.
Born in Jaffa (Yafo), he is the only Christian Arab in the Foreign Ministry; Deek has previously served as deputy ambassador to Nigeria, and to Norway, for terms of three years each.
In addition, he served as temporary Director of Embassy to Norway in Oslo and the state’s sole envoy to the country during Israel’s counter-terrorism war against Hamas in Gaza, Operation Protective Edge, in 2014. He also organized a state visit to Oslo by then-President Shimon Peres, a feat for which he received high praise and a ministry award.