New Israeli Ambassador to Greece presents credentials to Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou

The new Israeli Ambassador to Greece, Noam Katz, presented his credentials to Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Monday.

In an official announcement, the Israeli Embassy in Athens said that the newly appointed diplomat is expected to build "partnerships and coalitions for Israel with the people and government of Greece."

Furthermore, Katz "plans to focus on strengthening relations in the areas of politics, innovation and technology, trade and business, tourism, agriculture, environment, religion and culture," and he also "looks forward to working together with Israel’s Greek partners on issues related to security, regional stability and energy," the embassy noted.

The Israeli diplomat has served as the Senior Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. He has headed the Public Diplomacy Directorate, and he was responsible for Israel’s public diplomacy at an international scale, tasked with developing communication and messaging strategies for 108 diplomatic missions.

Ambassador Katz has also served as the Minister of Public Diplomacy at the Embassy of Israel in Washington DC (2009-2014), Director of Public Affairs of the MFA in Jerusalem (2007-2009), Israel’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Ghana and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (2002-2007), Deputy Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2000) and Spokesman of Israel’s Embassy in Rome (1998-2000). Before these posts, he was assigned in the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Departments of Eastern Europe and Central and West Africa, and at the Embassy of Israel in Lagos, Nigeria.

Katz holds a BA in history and an MA in Public Policy & Management from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is a 2017 graduate of the Wexner Senior Leadership Program at Harvard University. As an infantry commander in the IDF he rose to the rank of major during his reserve duty, and he received a special citation for his military service. He taught high school history and civics in Kibbutz Cabri where he lived for several years before joining the diplomatic corps.

Noam Katz was born in Jerusalem in 1964, he is married and is the father of three.

On Twitter, Katz wrote about presenting his credentials to the Greek president, and he added that he looks forward "to further strengthening the excellent bilateral relations and friendship between our two nations with the aim of taking the strategic partnership between Israel and Greece to new levels."