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| Israeli Arab appointed new Israeli ambassador to Greece
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Ali Yahya
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ATHENS (EJP)--- An Israeli-Arab known for his peace-making efforts presented his credentials as Israel's new ambassador to Greece to the President of the Hellenic Republic, Carolos Papoulias.
Ali Yahya is one of the most distinguished and highest ranking officials of Arab origin in the State of Israel.
Born in Israel in 1947, Yahya is a Muslim and a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Among his most recent posts, Yahya served as the first ever Israeli-Arab ambassador of the State of Israel in Finland from 1995 to 1999.
Prior to that, he was the Coordinator of the Foreign Ministry’s Special Project Divisions for the Middle East and the Peace Process, the head of Israel’s Liaison Office in Qatar and served in the delegation of Israel at the UN.
Peace efforts
Yahya, who is married with five children, is perhaps best known for being a messenger of peace and coexistence, not only among Israeli Jews and Arabs, but also between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
He has traveled to a number of Muslim countries as coordinator for special projects for peace.
In recognition of his efforts to promote peace, Yahya has received several prestigious awards including the Knesset Speaker’s Prize, the Histradrut (Israeli Labor Union) Prize for Coexistence, the Israel Prize (the most prestigious prize in Israel) and recognition from the United States Senate for the “Promotion of Peace through Language and Literature.”
He was also the first Israeli–Arab representative to light the ceremonial torch at the Israeli Independence Day celebration for tolerance and coexistence and the delegate of the Israeli – Arab Community at the Nobel Prize Ceremony in 1995.
Mr. Yahya has also helped initiate several NGO’s aimed at promoting coexistence.
Improved relations
Greece was the last EU country to recognize Israel de jure in 1990 by then liberal prime minister Constantine Mitsotakis. Until then the relations between the two countries ranged from cordial to right out hostile during the 1980’s under the Socialist government of PASOK and its late prime minister Andrea Papandreou.
During that period the PLO and other Palestinian organizations were operating in Greece almost with impunity. Once caught they where usually expelled immediately to an Arab country.
The situation became better when during the mid 1990’s the son of by then deceased Andrea, George Papandreou, became foreign minister and immediately went to work in improving relations between the two countries, resulting in close and normal relations.
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