Aviva Raz Shechter
Middle East, International Organizations, UNSCR 1325, Women, Peace and Security, Combating Antisemitism
Ambassador Aviva Raz Shechter joined the MFA as a career diplomat more than three decades ago. Since then she has held various portfolios at the Ministry and abroad.
In September 2020, Ambassador Raz Shechter completed four years' service as Ambassador & Permanent Representative to the United Nations & Other International Organizations in Geneva.
She is currently the first Special Envoy for the implementation of UNSCR 1325-WPS.
Ambassador Raz Schechter'sfirst diplomatic mission was as Deputy Consul-General in Montreal, Canada. After the opening of Israel's embassy in Amman, Jordan, she was appointed the political Counselor (1997-1998). Upon her return from Amman, she became head of the Lebanon Desk at MFA’s Political Research Center and MFA's member in the political-military team for the talks with Lebanon headed by General Menachem Einan.
From 2000-2005 Ambassador Raz Shechter was Minister-Counselor and head of Public Diplomacy at the Embassy of Israel in Washington DC. She then became Director of the Department for Combating Antisemitism and Holocaust Remembrance. During her tenure in this post (2005-2011), Ambassador Raz Shechter established the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism (GFCA) and was Co-Head of Israel's delegation to the International Task Force on Holocaust Remembrance (IHRA). On completion of this post, she was appointed Deputy Director General for Middle East Affairs and the Peace Process (2011-2016).
Ambassador Raz Shechter holds B.A and M.A on Middle East Studies (with honors) from Hebrew University and is the recipient of the "Golda Meir Fellowship".
Languages: English, French, Arabic and German.