On August 16, Israel and the United Arab Emirates made history with the announcement that the two countries would establish diplomatic ties. 

This episode of Persona Grata gives our listeners a sneak peak into what peace looks like almost a year after the Abraham Accords were signed and what this new era means for Israel, its neighbors and the entire region. 

The episode features audio from: 
Elkana Marziano & Wallid Aljasim (credit: Gili Masami)
Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra
I24 News
Khaleej Times

Normalization Is The New Norm: Israel-UAE Ties

Two years ago, Israel & the world were taken by storm with the spread of a new & dangerous virus known today as COVID 19. 

While the virus continues to spread (this time with variants like Delta and Omricon), Israel is using its own experiences curbing the virus to help other countries around the world fight the pandemic. 

On this episode of Persona Grata, we're speaking to some of the leading governmental, diplomatic and medical professionals  in Israel and around the world who are working together to combat the Coronavirus. 

Thank you to all of the individuals who shared their perspectives in this episode including: 

Ambassador Daniel Meron, COVID-19 Project Manager at the Israel MFA
Dr. Dorit Nitzan, Europe Regional Emergency Director, at the World Health Organization
Raed Arafat, Head of the Department of Emergency Situations, at the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs
Dr. Krunoslav Capak, Director General of the Croatian Institute of Public Health
Galit Peleg , Director of Overseas Programs at Mashav - Israel's Agency for International Cooperation
Dr Asher Salmon, Head of the Department of International Affairs at the Israel Ministry of Health
Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li, Deputy Director General at the MFA and Head of the Africa Division

A special thank you to our producer Jonathan Hauerstock, assistant producer Shir Avital and our entire digital diplomacy team for making this episode possible.

The Good Kind of Viral: Corona Diplomacy

Israel's relationship with the African continent began in the years following Israel's independence. When many African countries including Rwanda established independence in the early 1960s, Israel which was a young country at the time, viewed these countries as partners and was eager to share its experiences in development and capacity building. 

More than six decades later, ties between Israel and the African continent continue to reach new heights. 
 
Earlier this week (Monday, April 1), Israel and Rwanda made history with the inauguration of a new Israeli embassy in Rwanda. While Israel and Rwanda re-established diplomatic ties in 1994, the inauguration of the embassy marks the first time that Israel will maintain a resident ambassador in Kigali, Rwanda's capital.
 
The inauguration of the Israeli embassy in Kigali, brings the total number of Israeli embassies in Sub-Saharan Africa to eleven.
 
We sat down with Israel's new ambassador to Rwanda, Ron Adam, to discuss the historic milestone and the potential for Israel-Rwanda ties.
  
You can follow Ambassador Adam on Twitter here: 
https://twitter.com/AmbRonAdam

Israel is Coming Back to Africa: Israel's First Resident Ambassador to Rwanda

From the Arab Spring in 2011, to the US Presidential election in 2016, to clap backs on Twitter between countries like Israel and Iran in 2018, world leaders, MFAs and diplomats have realized that what they share online can shape events offline. 

According to Twiplomacy, 93% of all UN member states have an official presence on the platform and between May 2017 and May 2018, world leaders sent more than 250,000 original tweets. It takes a lot less than 280 characters to realize that digital diplomacy is here to stay.

This special episode of Persona Grata features Yiftah Curiel who heads the Israel MFA's Digital Diplomacy department which manages more than 30 social media channels in 5 languages including English, Arabic, Farsi, Spanish, Russian and Hebrew and Ilan Manor, a PHD student at Oxford University specializing in Digital Diplomacy.

Ilan and Yiftach sat down to discuss the challenges and opportunities for diplomacy in the digital age and what the future holds for the ever evolving field that is digital diplomacy.

You can follow Yiftah on Twitter at  https://twitter.com/yiftahc  and Ilan at  https://twitter.com/Ilan_Manor.

Does Digital Make the Diplomat? On Game of Thrones, Memes, and Twitter Wars.

(This episode of Persona Grata is a special edition in Hebrew, which discusses the Israel MFA's elite Cadets Course, which trains future Israeli diplomats.)

רילוקיישין או מעבר למדינה אחרת, מחייב אותך ללמוד ולהכיר שפה נוספת, להתרגל לתרבות חדשה, ולהתאקלם למקום זר, בהרבה מקרים יחד עם משפחה. אז מה המניע שגורם למאות דיפלומטים ישראלים לעשות את זה כל שנה ולמה כדאי להצטרף לשירות החוץ?

פרק זה הוא פרק מיוחד העוסק בקורס הצוערים, קורס הליבה של משרד החוץ, המספק כלים חשובים לדיפלומטים העתידיים של מדינת ישראל. בפרק זה, נשמע משתי צוערות מהמחזור הנוכחי של קורס הצוערים, אורלי גולדשמידט ומייזי אליאש פילקובסקי שצפויות להתחיל את שליחותן הראשונה בקרוב, וכן מאלדד גולן, סגן מנהל מחלקת זכויות האדם וארגונים בינלאומיים באגף ארגונים בינ"ל במשרד החוץ.

אתם מוזמנים לעקוב אחרי החוויות של הצוערים באמצעות עמוד הפייסבוק של הקורס (https://www.facebook.com/mfa.training)ובטוייטר דרך: 
https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&vertical=default&q=%23mfacadets35&src=typd.

להגשת מועמדות לקורס הצוערים - https://tinyurl.com/Tzoarim2019.
מועד אחרון להגשת מועמדות - 18 ביוני.

חוויה פוגשת שליחות - קורס הצוערים מבפנים (Special Edition in Hebrew)

On this episode of Persona Grata, we’ll meet the people behind Israel's humanitarian missions which have come to the aid of more than 140 countries and thousands of people since Israel's founding.

From a devastating typhoon in the Philippines, to an earthquake in Haiti which killed over 200,000, to assisting Syrian refugees on the Greek Island of Lesbos, here's how Israel is making sure that no matter, how far, no one is left behind. 

On this World Humanitarian Day, we salute the thousands of men and women around the world who continue to place themselves in harm's way to create a better and safer world for all.

You can follow Mashav on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MASHAVisrael, and Israaid https://twitter.com/israaid. 

News coverage on Syria was provided by I24 News and features correspondent Jonathan Regev.

Israel's Humanitarian Assistance Efforts Around The Globe

10,000 young Israelis stranded abroad, dozens of countries and airports locked down, hundreds of embassies shuttered, 90 repatriation flights and one major epidemic. 

On this episode of Persona Grata  we get an inside look at how our Israeli diplomats in Israel and around the world worked around the clock to bring Israelis home and keep diplomacy alive abroad.

Featuring: 
Peleg Levi, Israel’s Consul General in Guangzhou
Rodica Radian Gordan, Israel's Ambassador to Spain
Ziv Shalvi,Deputy Manager of Israelis Abroad Department 
Ohad Shary, Operator, Israel MFA Situation Room

Special thank you to I24 news for news coverage featured in this episode.

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