Current Ambassador:

His Excellency Ran Yaakoby serves as Ambassador of Israel to New Zealand and Non-Resident Ambassador to the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga.

Visa and immigration arrangements:

New Zealand citizens traveling to Israel as tourists (for up to 3 months) do not require a visa, the same applies for Israeli citizens traveling to New Zealand. In April 2011, Israel and New Zealand signed the working holiday scheme, a reciprocal deal which allows New Zealanders aged 18-30 to work in Israel for a year (and visa-versa). These working holiday visas are particularly popular with only 200 hundred being issued a year. 

Common Interests:

Economy: Economic ties between the two countries continue to develop with technology helping to bridge the significant geographical distance. Although traditional exporting and importing exist between the two countries the greatest opportunities to foster economic ties are in collaborative efforts and joint ventures including areas of hi-tech, innovation agriculture and medical technology. The Embassy aims to do assist in any way possible to continue developing this successful partnership between the two countries.

Culture: The Embassy of Israel participates in numerous local events including the Model United Nations, Documentary Edge Festival, the Pride Parade, and International Cultural festivals. Cultural ties between our two nations are also strengthened through visits of Israeli artists to New Zealand.  Notable visits include that of Etgar Keret to the New Zealand Writers Festival, the Batsheva Dance Company who performed at the international arts festival and Ester Rada at WOMAD. Israel and New Zealand signed a Co-production Film Agreement on 1 March 2016. We hope to see some great Israeli-Kiwi films in the near future!

The Embassy works with local Maori Iwi focusing on areas of common interest such as language revitalisation.  Endangered Language and Linguistics expert Professor Ghil'ad Zuckermann visited New Zealand for the Māori language symposium sharing lessons from the revitalization of the Hebrew language.

Jewish Community: The Embassy of Israel maintains strong ties with the New Zealand Jewish communities. Together the Embassy and the Jewish communities organise and participate events such as Hanukkah, Limmud, Kia Ora Torah, and the Young Jewish Leadership Programme. The Embassy also partners with the Holocaust Centre of New Zealand co-ordinating the bi-annual visit of New Zealand school teachers to Yad Vashem in Israel aimed at teaching Holocaust education at schools throughout New Zealand.