Ambassadors of Israel to Russia

The office encompasses Israel’s representation to two different states: the Soviet Union before the 1967 break in relations and the Russian Federation after relations were renewed in 1991. The diplomatic-missions record lists the Moscow embassy as established in January 1992 and headed by an ambassador.[2] Because the original mission began with an envoy and was upgraded in 1954, a historical roster must distinguish envoys, formal ambassadors, designated appointees, and temporary heads of mission.[1][4]

Israel opened a diplomatic mission in Moscow in September 1948, approximately four months after the declaration of statehood.[1] Golda Meir was appointed to head the mission, holding the rank of envoy rather than ambassador.[1] Her arrival coincided with the High Holidays, and approximately 50,000 Jews gathered near the Moscow Choral Synagogue on the first day of Rosh Hashanah as she walked to the service.[5] Joseph Stalin reportedly regarded the popular demonstrations as a provocation.[6] Meir later reflected on the reception with characteristic wryness: “If you had sent a broomstick to Moscow and said it represented the State of Israel, it would have received the same welcome.”[7]

In June 1954, the mission was upgraded to a full embassy, and Dr. Shmuel Elyashiv became Israel’s first formally designated ambassador to the USSR.[1] The Israel State Archives record that in May 1955, Ambassador Yosef Avidar and embassy staff visited a Moscow synagogue and encountered what was described as a “great yearning for Judaism and Israel” among the Jews they met.[8] In August 1955, three Israeli embassy attachés were expelled following their activities among Soviet Jewry.[8] The USSR severed diplomatic relations with Israel in June 1967 following the Six-Day War and restored them in October 1991.[1][9] Israel and Russia established diplomatic relations in December 1991, and the Israeli embassy in Moscow was established in January 1992.[1][2]

The rank attached to the Moscow post changed with the mission’s status. From 1948 until the 1954 upgrade, its head held the rank of envoy; afterward, the resident head was an ambassador.[1] A designated ambassador did not necessarily take office: Shneur Zalman Shazar was rejected by the Soviet government.[4] During a vacancy, a deputy or temporary chargé d’affaires may lead the embassy, as occurred after Gary Koren’s departure in 2019.[10] Presentation of credentials marks formal entry into the ambassadorial role; Simona Halperin presented hers around late January 2024.[11]

Golda Meir headed Israel’s diplomatic mission in Moscow from September 1948 until April 1949.[1][12] Some accounts describe her as Israel’s first ambassador to the Soviet Union.[7] The Israeli embassy’s official historical account is more specific, identifying her as head of mission with the rank of envoy and naming Shmuel Elyashiv as the first formal ambassador after the mission was upgraded in 1954.[1]

A 1955 Israel State Archives volume identifies Mordechai Namir as Israel’s minister in Moscow from 1949 to 1950.[8] Shneur Zalman Shazar, who later became Israel’s third president, was designated as ambassador but was not accepted by the Soviet government; following the refusal, he joined the Jewish Agency Executive in 1952.[4] The archival volume identifies Yosef Avidar as ambassador in Moscow in 1955 and Shmuel Eliashiv as a former ambassador who had become a Foreign Ministry deputy director-general.[8] The cited records do not establish complete sequential service dates for these officials.

Arkady Mil-Man served as deputy head of a group of Israeli diplomats in Moscow from 1989 to 1990, before formal relations were restored, and founded Israel’s embassy in Kazakhstan in 1992, becoming its first chargé d’affaires.[13] Sources disagree about his tenure as ambassador to Russia. CTech reports that he served in 1993–1995 and again in 2002–2006 and describes him as one of the founders of Israel’s renewed embassy in Moscow.[14] His INSS biography instead lists a single Russian ambassadorship from 2003 to 2006.[13]

Zvi Magen served as ambassador to Russia from 1998 to 1999, following his service as ambassador to Ukraine from 1993 to 1997.[15] He later headed Nativ, which maintained ties with Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union, from 1999 to 2006.[15]

A 2010 profile identifies Anna Azari as Israel’s ambassador to Russia at that time, although it does not provide her full term.[16] She was succeeded by Dorit Druker Golender, who concluded a five-year term in Moscow in September 2015.[17] Golender had previously headed the Russian-language division of Radio Reka and had no prior Foreign Service background. Her appointment by Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman drew criticism, while her fluency in Russian and connections with Russian-speaking communities were cited as assets.[17]

Zvi Heifetz was identified as Israel’s new ambassador to Russia in November 2015.[9] Discussing the 25th anniversary of restored Israel–Russia diplomatic relations, he said the countries planned to commemorate it “at the highest possible level.”[9] Gary Koren was ambassador by 2017 and left the post in mid-September 2019.[10] Deputy chief of mission Keren Cohen Gat then headed the embassy until Foreign Ministry official Yacov Livne arrived on November 8, 2019, as temporary chargé d’affaires.[10]

The Foreign Ministry’s Appointments Committee selected Alexander Ben Zvi on July 28, 2020, after the post had been vacant for nearly a year; the selection remained subject to cabinet approval.[18] He was then ambassador to Poland and had previously served in Slovakia and Costa Rica, worked at the Moscow embassy, and served as deputy director-general for Eurasia.[18] Ynet reporting identifies him as Israel’s ambassador in Moscow in 2022.[19]

Simona Halperin entered the role and presented her credentials around late January 2024.[11] In January 2025, she criticized the Russia–Iran Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, warning that efforts to strengthen Iran’s military and economic capabilities were “dangerous for the entire world and particularly for Israel.”[20]

The Foreign Ministry’s appointments committee subsequently chose Oded Joseph, also rendered Yosef, to replace Halperin.[21] The Israeli embassy records that he assumed the post in November 2025.[3] He had previously served as deputy director-general and head of the Foreign Ministry’s Middle East Division, as ambassador to Kenya, and at Israeli missions in Moscow, Washington, and Singapore.[3][21] In a February 2026 interview, he said one of his central goals was to promote visits to Russia by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials.[22]

The Moscow mission became an important point of contact between Israel and Soviet Jewry. The large Jewish reception for Golda Meir in 1948 demonstrated the symbolic importance of the newly established Jewish state to Jews living under Soviet rule.[5] Embassy reporting in 1955 described strong attachment to Judaism and Israel, while the expulsion of three attachés illustrated the restrictions placed on Israeli engagement with Soviet Jews.[8]

In the post-Soviet period, the ambassadorship has remained connected to broader regional and strategic questions. Halperin’s criticism of the Russia–Iran partnership in 2025 and Joseph’s stated interest in renewing senior-level visits in 2026 illustrate the post’s role in managing both security disagreements and high-level bilateral diplomacy.[20][22]

The available documentary record does not provide a continuous roster with precise start and end dates for every officeholder. Sources describe Golda Meir variously as Israel’s first ambassador, its first diplomatic representative, and its head of mission with the rank of envoy. The official embassy history supplies the clearest institutional distinction by naming Shmuel Elyashiv as the first formal ambassador after the 1954 upgrade.[1]

There is also an unresolved disagreement over Arkady Mil-Man’s ambassadorial service. CTech gives two terms, 1993–1995 and 2002–2006, while his INSS biography lists only 2003–2006.[13][14] Shazar’s rejected designation further demonstrates that nomination did not always result in service.[4] For the post-1991 era, several sources establish that particular diplomats held the office without documenting complete tenure dates.