Amb. Alon Bar, Deputy Director General for the United Nations and International Organizations at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke at JPC about the recent resolutions of UNESCO regarding Jerusalem. Amb. Bar said that the resolutions were not based on any historical basis but were purely political. While he admitted that Israel couldn’t stop these resolutions, he said that the vibrant public and diplomatic efforts of Israel and its supporters made more members of UNESCO aware of the absurdity of the resolutions, and expressed the hope that in the future there will be a change towards a more positive approach towards Israel among UNESCO members.
About the Speaker:
Alon Bar was born in 1957 and raised in Kibbutz Sasa. He graduated Saint Lewis Park High School in Minneapolis Minnesota, USA in 1975.
Following his military service (1975-79) he studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem where he received in 1984 his BA degree in International Relations and Education.In 1984, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During the years 1989-2000 he served in a variety of posts both in headquarters and in embassies of Israel abroad. Among those are postings in Guatemala, the bureau of the Deputy Foreign Minister, Counselor in the Embassy of Israel in Madrid and the Egypt department in the MFA.
In 2000 Mr. Bar was appointed as director of the Arms Control department in the MFA.
From 2000-2006 he was in charge of Israel’s delegations to the UN General Assembly First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) and a member of Israeli delegations to the IAEA General Conference as well as to other multilateral fora in the field of disarmament and arms control.
2007 – Chief of Policy Staff to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
2009 – Deputy Director General – Strategic Affairs.
2010 – Acting Deputy Director General – Cultural and Scientific Affairs.
From August 2011 to August 2015, Mr. Bar served as ambassador of Israel to Spain.
2015 – European Organization department.
Since July 15, 2016 – Mr. Bar is Deputy Director General for the United Nations and International Organizations. Alon Bar is married and has three children (now adults).
