The New Ambassador is a Rabbi

By COLlive reporter

Joel Lion, a respected Israeli diplomat who is known for his scholarly perusing that includes rabbinics, has been appointed as Israel’s Ambassador to Ukraine.

Lion was born in 1964 in France and raised in Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg. He is married to Rivka, and is the father of 8 children.

Fluent in Hebrew, English, French, German, Luxemburgish, Yiddish and Russian, Lion joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993 and has most recently held the position of Chief of Diplomatic Staff of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Hotovely.

Among the roles he served was Consul-General of Israel in Montreal, spokesperson at the Consulate General of Israel in New York, and additional positions at Israel’s missions in Berlin, Vienna, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

In addition to his diplomatic career and serving in the IDF, Lion has an extensive academic background with a B.A. in Political Sciences from Hebrew University, M.A. in History from the University of Latvia, and is a PhD candidate at Bar Ilan University.

Most impressive is that he has been ordained as a rabbi by Rabbi Yochanan Gourarie, Chief Rabbi of Holon and a member of the Chabad Beis Din in Israel, and Rabbi Dan Channen from Yeshivat Pirchei Shoshanim.

Lion has close ties with Chabad and often speaks about his personal experiences with Chabad around the world. He has spoken at Chabad of Cote S. Luc and Beis Chaya Mushka Seminary in Montreal, Chabad of USC in Los Angeles and other locations.

This week, Lion presented his credentials to the Sergiy Kyslytsya, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine. “Kyslytsya congratulated Mr. Lion on the beginning of the diplomatic mission in Ukraine,” the ministry’s press service stated.

Both diplomats expressed the willingness of their countries to support active political dialogue and enhance practical cooperation in the spheres of mutual interest, ukrinform.net reported.

For lunch on Wednesday, he went to the Mendi’s Kosher Restaurant on Esplanadna Street in Kiev.

Later, Ambassador Lion visited the US Embassy in Kiev and signed the book of condolences for the late US Senator John McCain. He called him “a strong supporter of the State of Israel who will be dearly missed.”