Moshe Arad

Arad was born in Romania.[2] In a later oral-history discussion of Romanian Jewish emigration and its influence in Israel, he and fellow diplomat Meir Rosenne were cited as examples of prominent Romanian-born Israelis.[2] The available material does not provide details of Arad’s childhood or education.

Arad served as an information counsellor in the United States before becoming the Foreign Ministry’s acting inspector-general, a position he held in December 1981.[4] A memoir account of the Washington embassy’s staff identifies him as “Moshe Arad (Kalenstein)” and assigns him responsibility for information during Simcha Dinitz’s ambassadorship, with Hanan Bar-On serving as envoy.[5] The account does not specify a calendar year for that staffing arrangement.[5]

In December 1981, Arad was considered a likely choice for the professional diplomat who would serve as the number two at Israel’s Washington embassy; this was a prospective appointment rather than a confirmed posting.[4] In November 1984, while serving as Israel’s representative in Mexico City, he was again among the leading candidates for a Washington embassy counsellor position under a reported plan by Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir to appoint a career diplomat.[6]

As ambassador to Mexico, Arad met twice with an American Jewish Committee officer to discuss Mexico–Israel relations and the Jewish community.[3] Their discussions covered U.S. votes at the United Nations concerning Jerusalem, the occupied territories, and economic sanctions, as well as antisemitic expressions following an earthquake in Mexico and terrorist attacks at the airports in Vienna and Rome.[3]

Arad succeeded Meir Rosenne as ambassador to the United States in 1987 and served until 1990, when Zalman Shoval succeeded him.[1] The diplomatic chronology records his appointment on July 10, 1987, and lists him as ambassador on July 20 of that year; Shoval’s subsequent appointment is dated October 18, 1990.[7] A January 1988 document also identifies Arad as Ambassador of Israel and gives a Washington, D.C., address.[8]

During his ambassadorial service, Arad reported on the Algiers meeting and its implications at a special meeting held on November 15; the surviving excerpt does not specify the year.[9] In 2013, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations invited him and other former Israeli ambassadors to the United States to participate in a discussion of U.S.–Israel relations during its annual mission to Israel.[10]

Arad’s diplomatic career shaped the childhood of his son Michael, whose family moved frequently and lived in London, Washington, Jerusalem, and Mexico City.[11] Michael was born in England to the Israeli diplomatic family and grew up in Jerusalem and other countries during the family’s postings abroad.[12] The accounts of these moves identify Moshe Arad’s Washington ambassadorship but do not assign a specific diplomatic position to every city in which the family lived.[11]

Arad defended Israel’s deportation of Mubarak Awad in an article titled “Why Israel Deported Awad,” preserved among archival materials concerning Awad from 1986–1988.[13] The article presents Arad’s advocacy for the decision rather than an independent assessment of the case.[13]

In 2015, Arad criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned address to the U.S. Congress shortly before Israel’s election.[14] He argued that the appearance could damage Israel’s relationship with the United States and implicate American Jews if Netanyahu were perceived as intervening in American politics.[14] Arad urged Netanyahu to address American Jews by satellite instead and called for a return from “public diplomacy to traditional diplomacy.”[14] Asked about Netanyahu’s motivation, he replied, “In my opinion, Netanyahu is being spurred on by his ego.”[14]