​Mr. Ishmael Khaldi was born and raised in the Bedouin village of Khawalid in the Western Galilee of Israel.  He earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Haifa, and a Master’s Degree in International Relations from Tel Aviv University.  He served in the Israeli Defense Forces, Defense Ministry, and the Israeli Police before being chosen to join the Foreign Ministry in October 2004, becoming Israel’s first Bedouin diplomat. He initially served in the Arabic Media Department acting as the spokesperson to the Arabic media during the disengagement from Gaza. He was then transferred to the North American Division until being selected for Deputy Consul General in San Francisco, where he was stationed between 2006 and 2009. In August 2009, Mr. Ishmael Khaldi was appointed to be policy advisor to Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman. In 2010, he published his autobiography, A Shepherd’s Journey: the story of Israel’s first Bedouin diplomat.