Reuven AZAR assumed his position as Ambassador of Israel to Romania in August 2022. He previously served as Head of the Israel-US-China internal Task Force at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, immediately after a term of three years as Deputy National Security Advisor for Foreign Policy at the National Security Council and Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister of Israel.
From 2014 to 2018, Reuven was Deputy Ambassador at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC. He also served as Head of Middle East Research in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2012-2014) and as Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Israel in Amman (2010-2012).
Since the completion of the MFA cadet training program in 1994, he held mostly Middle East related positions, such as Head of the Iran Sanctions Team and Director of Middle East Economic Research. During his carrier, Reuven covered different aspects of cooperation and negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, as well as research on Palestinian issues. He served four years in Cairo as Head of Economic & Trade Department at the Embassy of Israel. In a previous round in Washington, DC (2003-2006), he served as Counselor for Political Affairs.
Reuven was born in Argentina in 1967 and made Aliyah (immigrated) with his family to Jerusalem, Israel at the age of 13. He served in a Paratroopers battalion of the Israeli Defense Forces from 1985 to 1988 and was a reservist combat Sergeant up to 2008.
Reuven has both an MA and BA from the Department of International Relations at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is married to Rachel and a father to Roni, Ofir and Oren. Reuven speaks fluent Spanish and Arabic, in addition to English and Hebrew, and he is now studying Romanian.