Ofir Akunis

Ofir Akunis was born in 1973 in Tel Aviv

Akunis was born in Tel Aviv to a family of Thessaloniki Jews who came to the Land of Israel in 1934. His mother was born in Poland and immigrated in 1957. He attended the Herzliya Hebrew High School and was a youth reporter for Ma'ariv LaNoar.

He served in the army as a military reporter for the Chief Education Officer. He also worked as a music editor on Reshet Gimmel radio. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and international relations from the Open University.

He joined Likud in 1992 and in 1996 became deputy media adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, later serving as party spokesman. In 2004 he became Netanyahu's media adviser at the Finance Ministry, and in 2008 a deputy director of communications for Likud.

He entered the Knesset in 2009 and chaired its Economic Committee, working to open the cellular market to competition. He was deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Office from 2013 and was put in charge of environmental protection in December 2014 after an oil spill in the Arava. From 2015 he served as a minister, including Science and Technology, Labor and Social Affairs, and Regional Cooperation.

In May 2024 he became Israel's Consul General in New York, his first diplomatic post.