Uri Savir

Uri Savir was born in 1953 in Jerusalem

Savir was born in Jerusalem on 7 January 1953. His father, Leo Savir, was one of the founders of Israel's Foreign Service. He studied at the Rehavia Gymnasium and left before finishing high school when his family went on a diplomatic posting abroad.

He earned a bachelor's degree in international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He began at the Foreign Ministry with posts in Canada and at the consulate in New York. In 1984 he became communications adviser to Shimon Peres and took part in organizing Peres's 1986 visit to Morocco.

In 1988 he was appointed consul general in New York. In 1993 Peres named him director general of the Foreign Ministry, and he headed Israel's team in the Oslo talks. He also took part in the talks with Jordan and led the delegation to talks with Syria.

In 1999 he was elected to the Knesset for the Centre Party. In 2001 he joined the New Way faction and soon after left the Knesset. He co-founded the Peres Center for Peace, the Glocal Forum and the YaLa Young Leaders movement, and wrote several books and newspaper columns.

He was married to Aliza, and they had a daughter, Maya. He died on 14 May 2022.