Avi Pazner

Avi Pazner was born in Danzig shortly before World War II. He spent his childhood in Switzerland and moved to Israel with his parents in 1953. In 1965 he joined the Foreign Ministry and served in Africa and Washington. He became spokesman for the Ministry in 1981 and in 1986 was named senior adviser to Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. In 1991 he was named ambassador to Italy and in that capacity negotiated the establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and the Vatican. From 1995 to 1998 he served as ambassador to France and then was elected world chairman of Keren Hayesod-United Israel Appeal, in which capacity he serves today.