Ambassador Ben-Yaakov was appointed to the position in Israel already in July and she arrived in Finland in August. She presented her Credentials to President Sauli Niinistö today, on 27 August 2020.
Ben-Yaakov will also be accredited to Estonia in the beginning of autumn, as a non-resident Ambassador, while being stationed in Helsinki.
Ambassador Ben-Yaakov entered Israel´s Foreign Service in 1995. During her diplomatic career, she has worked in the country´s foreign missions in Philippines, Turkey and Latvia, where she served as the Ambassador of Israel to Latvia and Lithuania in 2011-2015.
She has also held several senior posts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel in Jerusalem, most recently the Director of Israel-China Economic Affairs. During her time in the National Security Council of the Prime Minister’s Office, she was the Senior Director for European Affairs (2016-2018).
Ben-Yaakov holds a B.A. in History and Middle East studies and a M.A. in Middle East studies from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is a graduate of the Executive program of the Negotiation Strategies Institute (NSI/Harvard University). Ben-Yaakov’s military rank is lieutenant.
Hagit Ben-Yaakov was born in Beer Sheva in 1968, and she has two children: 9-year-old twins Noam and Yael.