Daniel Taub

Daniel Taub
דניאל טאוב‎
Israeli Ambassador to the United Kingdom
In office
June 2011 – September 2015
PresidentShimon Peres
Reuven Rivlin
Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu
Preceded byRon Prosor
Succeeded byMark Regev
Personal details
Born1962 (age 61–62)
London, England
CitizenshipIsraeli
Alma materUniversity College, Oxford
University College London
Harvard University
Military service
Allegiance Israel
Branch/serviceIsrael Defense Forces

Daniel Taub (Hebrew: דניאל טאוב; born 1962) is an Israeli diplomat, international lawyer and writer of British origin who served as Israel's Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2011 to 2015.[1] He is director of strategy and planning at the Yad Hanadiv (Rothschild) Foundation in Jerusalem.[2][3]

Biography

Daniel Taub was born and raised in London. He attended secondary school at the Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School in Elstree, Hertfordshire, and thereafter studied at University College, Oxford, University College, London and Harvard University.[4] Taub moved to Israel in 1989. He served as a combat medic in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and subsequently as a reserve officer in the IDF Military Advocate General Office's international law division.[5] Soon after arriving in Israel, Taub worked as speechwriter for President Chaim Herzog.[6] He joined the Israeli Foreign Ministry in 1991.[7]

Diplomatic career

Daniel Taub (left) with the Presiding Officer of the Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament; 2012

Taub has held many diplomatic, legal and political posts in the Israeli Foreign Ministry.[4] He is an expert in international law, with specialisations in counter-terrorism and the laws of war. As Principal Deputy Legal Advisor of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taub served as legal adviser to Israel's missions to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, and represented Israel in many multilateral fora.[4]

Taub was a negotiator in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process,[4] and a member of Israel's negotiation team in the Israel-Syrian negotiations.[4] He headed Israel's observer delegation to the International Court of Justice hearings on Israel's security barrier,[7] represented Israel before the UN investigative committee on the Gaza flotilla incident,[8] and negotiated the entry of Israel's Red Cross society, Magen David Adom, into the International Red Cross Movement, after 70 years of exclusion.[9]

Ambassador to the UK

In 2011, Taub was appointed Ambassador to the Court of St James's.[10] Placing a strong emphasis on trade and technology links, Taub introduced the Bizcamp start-up competition in conjunction with Google[11] and was nominated for the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Award for developing business and trade. Between the years 2011 and 2013, UK-Israel bilateral trade increased to $8 billion.[12]

Taub is a lecturer and public speaker,[13] He has been interviewed widely on television including on Hardtalk,[14] CNN,[15] Newsnight,[16] Sky News,[17] and the BBC Radio 4's Today programme,[18] and was the first Israeli Ambassador to be interviewed on the BBC Persian service.[19] In addition to serving as Ambassador to the UK, in March 2013 Taub became Israel's first Ambassador to the International Maritime Organization which is based in London.[20] [21]

Taub's appointment as Ambassador ended in 2015, and he returned to Israel. It was later reported that during his tenure British security officials had complained to the embassy about late-night "security breaches" involving unauthorised male visitors to Taub's home that were not logged with security officials, which meant that they were no longer able to offer him effective security.[22][23][24] The Israeli Foreign Ministry conducted an internal enquiry into the reports, and concluded that "there had been a breach of security protocol" but there had been no "criminal or disciplinary wrongdoing."[25][26]

Taub is married, with six children.[27]

Media career

Taub writes frequently on Israel and the Middle East, including articles appearing in The Times,[28] The Daily Telegraph,[29][30] The Guardian,[31] and the Huffington Post.[32]

Taub wrote Parasha Diplomatit,[33] a book of diplomatic insights on biblical texts.[34] He was also the creator and chief scriptwriter of an Israeli drama series, Hechatzer, set in an ultra-orthodox Hasidic sect.[4][35]

References

  1. ^ Freedland, Michael. "Farewell, Mr Ambassador: Interview with Daniel Taub". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  2. ^ Cohen, Justin. "Daniel Taub to join Israeli philanthropic foundation". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  3. ^ "Former Ambassador to the UK Daniel Taub joins Yad Hanadiv as Director of Strategy and Planning". Yad Hanadiv. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Interview: Daniel Taub". The Jewish Chronicle. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  5. ^ "2013 – Ambassador Daniel Taub". The Jewish Medical Association UK. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  6. ^ Halle, Charlotte. "This Soap Man Scrubs Up Israel's Image". Haaretz. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  7. ^ a b "This Soap Man Scrubs Up Israel's Image, Too Haaretz Daily Newspaper Israel News". Haaretz. 4 March 2005. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  8. ^ "Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Inquiry on the 31 May 2010 Flotilla Incident" (PDF). United Nations. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  9. ^ "2013 – Ambassador Daniel Taub". Jewish Medical Association UK. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  10. ^ Keinon, Herb (20 June 2011). "Daniel Taub named new Israeli ambassador to London – Diplomacy & Politics". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  11. ^ Sam Shead (13 September 2013). "Manchester firm Formisimo wins trip to "start-up nation" | Techworld". News.techworld.com. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  12. ^ "Israel's envoy Daniel Taub deploys movies and high-tech to beat the boycott". The Jewish Chronicle. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  13. ^ "Taub's masterclass in speechmaking". The Jewish Chronicle. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  14. ^ Brian Robinson. "Yahoo! Groups". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  15. ^ "Israel boycotters making a 'mistake,' sending bad message to Palestinians, says Israel ambassador – Amanpour – CNN.com Blogs". CNN. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  16. ^ "Israeli Ambassador unhappy at Iran nuclear deal – Newsnight". Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via YouTube.
  17. ^ "Israel's Ambassador to the UK, Daniel Taub, interviewed on Sky News". 27 July 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2015 – via YouTube.
  18. ^ "Doing nothing is simply not an option". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  19. ^ "עלונדון.נט – השגריר בלונדון מדובב לפרסית". Alondon.net. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  20. ^ "Ambassador Taub becomes Israel's first Ambassador to the International Maritime Organisation". Embassies.gov.il. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  21. ^ "Israeli ambassador was repeatedly warned over London security breaches". The Guardian. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  22. ^ Beaumont, Peter (4 February 2016). "Israeli ambassador was repeatedly warned over London security breaches". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  23. ^ "UK news World Israel Galleries Videos Campus Podcast People The Diary The Week That Was Former Israeli ambassador to London was reprimanded over 'security breaches'". The Jewish Chronicle. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  24. ^ אייכנר, איתמר (3 February 2016). "השגריר הבכיר הושב לארץ: "הפר נוהלי אבטחה"". ynet.
  25. ^ Ravid, Barak (4 February 2016). "Israel's Former Envoy to U.K. Loses Out on Top Ministry Job Due to Security Breach". Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  26. ^ Sanchez, Raf (4 February 2016). "Israeli ambassador to London 'left post after late-night visits to official residence'". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  27. ^ "Biography: Daniel Taub - The Jewish Chronicle".
  28. ^ "Grandstanding won't win peace. Talking will | The Times". The Times. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  29. ^ "The Palestinians' UN ploy is just the latest stalling tactic". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  30. ^ "Boycotting Israel does not bring peace closer or benefit humanity". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  31. ^ Daniel Taub (8 May 2012). "This TUC boycott has morphed into bigotry". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  32. ^ "Halting Hamas | Daniel Taub". HuffPost. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  33. ^ "Parasha Diplomatit". Parasha Diplomatit. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  34. ^ Taub, Daniel (2007). Parasha Diplomatit: An Israeli Diplomatic Perspective on the Weekly Torah ... – Google Books. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  35. ^ "ערוץ התכלת בשיתוף דרסט הפקות מפיקים טלנובלה חסידית בהשקעה של 800 אלף דולר – מדיה ופרסום". TheMarker. 13 July 2003. Retrieved 12 August 2015.