List of ambassadors of Australia to Israel

The ambassador of Australia to Israel is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the Embassy of the Commonwealth of Australia to the State of Israel.^[1] The ambassador is an officer of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the head of the Embassy of the Commonwealth of Australia to the State of Israel in Tel Aviv. The position has the rank and status of an ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. The current ambassador, since October 2020, is Paul Griffiths.

Ambassador of Australia to Israel
Incumbent Paul Griffiths since October 2020 (2020-10)
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Style	His Excellency
Reports to	Minister for Foreign Affairs
Nominator	Prime Minister of Australia
Appointer	Governor-General of Australia
Inaugural holder	Osmond Charles Fuhrman
Formation	28 October 1949
Website	Australian Embassy, Israel

Israel and Australia have enjoyed official diplomatic relations since the Australian government of Ben Chifley recognised Israel on 28 January 1949.^[2] The first Australian representative was Osmond Charles Fuhrman who was appointed as the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Australian legation in Tel Aviv in October 1949.^[3] Orsmond presented his credentials to President Chaim Weizmann on 4 January 1950.^[4] In October 1960 the legations of Israel in Canberra and of Australia in Tel Aviv were raised to embassy status and the Australian Minister John McMillan became the first ambassador.^[5]

List of heads of mission

Ordinal	Officeholder	Title	Term start date	Term end date	Time in office	Notes
1	Osmond Charles Fuhrman OBE	Minister to Israel	28 October 1949 (1949-10-28)	March 1955 (1955-03)	5 years, 4 months	[6]
2	Bertram Ballard		July 1955 (1955-07)	February 1960 (1960-02)	4 years, 7 months	[7]
3	John McMillan		March 1960 (1960-03)	14 October 1960 (1960-10-14)	3 years, 1 month	[8][9]
		Ambassador of Australia to the State of Israel	14 October 1960 (1960-10-14)	April 1963 (1963-04)
4	John Hood CBE		April 1963 (1963-04)	September 1964 (1964-09)	1 year, 5 months	[10]
5	William Landale		January 1965 (1965-01)	March 1970 (1970-03)	5 years, 2 months	[11]
6	Marshall Johnston		March 1970 (1970-03)	September 1972 (1972-09)	2 years, 6 months	[12]
7	Rawdon Dalrymple		September 1972 (1972-09)	June 1975 (1975-06)	2 years, 9 months	[13]
8	Richard Smith		June 1975 (1975-06)	November 1977 (1977-11)	2 years, 5 months	[14]
9	Walter Handmer		November 1977 (1977-11)	July 1980 (1980-07)	2 years, 8 months	[15]
10	David Goss		July 1980 (1980-07)	December 1983 (1983-12)	3 years, 5 months	[16]
11	Robert Merrillees		December 1983 (1983-12)	1987 (1987)	3–4 years	[17]
12	John Campbell		1987 (1987)	July 1990 (1990-07)	2–3 years	[18]
13	William Fisher		July 1990 (1990-07)	July 1993 (1993-07)	3 years	[19][20]
14	Peter William Rodgers		January 1994 (1994-01)	May 1997 (1997-05)	3 years, 4 months	[21]
15	Ian Wilcock		May 1997 (1997-05)	February 2000 (2000-02)	2 years, 9 months
16	Richard Rigby		February 2000 (2000-02)	July 2001 (2001-07)	1 year, 5 months	[22]
17	Ross Burns		July 2001 (2001-07)	September 2003 (2003-09)	2 years, 2 months	[23]
18	Tim George		September 2003 (2003-09)	September 2006 (2006-09)	3 years	[24]
19	James Larsen		September 2006 (2006-09)	March 2010 (2010-03)	3 years, 6 months	[25]
20	Andrea Faulkner		March 2010 (2010-03)	June 2013 (2013-06)	3 years, 3 months	[26]
21	Dave Sharma		June 2013 (2013-06)	19 June 2017 (2017-06-19)	4 years	[27][28][29]
22	Chris Cannan		19 June 2017 (2017-06-19)	September 2020 (2020-09)	3 years, 2 months	[29][30]
23	Paul Griffiths		October 2020 (2020-10)	incumbent	4 years, 1 month	[31]

See also

• Australia–Israel relations
• Foreign relations of Australia

References

1. CA 1782: Australian Embassy, Israel [Tel Aviv], National Archives of Australia, retrieved 11 January 2016
2. "Australia Recognises Israel". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. NSW: National Library of Australia. 29 January 1949. p. 1. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
3. "EGYPT AND ISRAEL". The West Australian. Perth, WA: National Library of Australia. 29 October 1949. p. 15. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
4. "DIPLOMATIC POSTINGS ANNOUNCED". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 3 March 1960. p. 2. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
5. "Israel Legation Status Raised". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 30 September 1960. p. 2. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
6. "Australia's Minister to Israel". Kalgoorlie Miner. WA: National Library of Australia. 21 December 1949. p. 2. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
7. "NEW MINISTER TO ISRAEL". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 21 February 1955. p. 2. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
8. "DIPLOMATIC POSTINGS ANNOUNCED". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 3 March 1960. p. 2. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
9. "New Ambassador To Israel". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 15 October 1960. p. 3. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
10. "POSTING OF ENVOYS ANNOUNCED". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 9 March 1963. p. 2. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
11. "Envoy to Tanzania named". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 21 February 1970. p. 9. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
12. "Ambassador". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 12 February 1970. p. 9. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
13. "IN BRIEF". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 8 August 1972. p. 3. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
14. "IN BRIEF". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 14 June 1975. p. 9. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
15. "New Ambassador to Israel named". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 1 November 1977. p. 10. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
16. "IN BRIEF". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 21 June 1980. p. 3. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
17. "Hayden names new envoy to Israel". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 2 September 1983. p. 3. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
18. "Australia protests to Israel". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 6 January 1988. p. 3. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
19. "Vice-Regal". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 26 July 1990. p. 8. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
20. "Hewson abandons Fischer on Israel". The Canberra Times. ACT: National Library of Australia. 20 July 1993. p. 3. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
21. Downer, Alexander (November 1996). "Diplomatic appointment - Ambassador to Israel" (Press release). Australian Government.
22. Downer, Alexander (7 January 2000). "Diplomatic appointment - Ambassador to Israel" (Press release). Australian Government.
23. Downer, Alexander (12 June 2001). "Diplomatic appointment - Ambassador to Israel" (Press release). Australian Government.
24. Downer, Alexander (4 July 2003). "Diplomatic appointment - Ambassador to Israel" (Press release). Australian Government.
25. Downer, Alexander (8 August 2006). "Diplomatic appointment - Ambassador to Israel" (Press release). Australian Government.
26. Smith, Stephen (3 February 2010). "Diplomatic appointment - Ambassador to Israel" (Press release). Australian Government.
27. Carr, Bob (16 May 2013). "Ambassador to Israel" (Press release). Australian Government. Archived from the original on 11 February 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
28. "Ambassador to Israel" (Press release). Australian Government. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
29. @@AusAmbIsrael (19 June 2017). "Our new ambassador, Chris Cannan, has hit the ground running" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
30. STAFF, TOI (12 April 2017). "Austlalia names new Ambassador to Israel" (Press release). Times of Israel.
31. STAFF, DFAT (14 October 2020). "Official Profile Ambassador to Israel" (Press release). Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

External links

• Australian Embassy, Israel