Reuven Azar

Reuven Azar was born in 1967 in Argentina

Reuven Azar was born in Argentina in 1967. He moved to Israel with his family at age 13. He served in the Paratroopers Brigade from 1985 to 1988.

He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1994 he completed the foreign service cadet course. He then worked mainly on the Middle East, including heading the Iranian sanctions division.

He headed the economic department at the embassy in Cairo from 1996 to 2000 and was political adviser at the embassy in Washington from 2003 to 2006. He was deputy head of mission in Amman from 2010 to 2012 and led Middle East research at the Foreign Ministry from 2012 to 2014. From 2014 to 2018 he was deputy chief of mission in Washington.

He then served as deputy head of the National Security Council and foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During the COVID pandemic he broke Health Ministry rules, was reprimanded and was fined 5,000 shekels. In September 2021 he returned to the Foreign Ministry to lead a task force on Israel, United States and China relations.

He became ambassador to Romania in 2022. His 2023 meeting with George Simion of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians drew criticism from Yad Vashem. He was named ambassador to India in December 2023 and presented his credentials to President Droupadi Murmu on 6 September 2024.