Danny Ayalon
Daniel "Danny" Ayalon (Hebrew: דניאל "דני" אילון; born 17 December 1955) is an Israeli diplomat, columnist and politician. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister and as a member of the Knesset. He was the Israeli Ambassador to the United States from 2002 until 2006. Previously, he worked as senior foreign policy advisor to Prime Ministers Ariel Sharon, Ehud Barak, and Benjamin Netanyahu.
Danny Ayalon
Deputy Foreign Minister
17 December 1955
Tel Aviv, Israel
Early life and education[edit]
Danny Ayalon was born in Tel Aviv in 1955. His late mother Lily Ellon immigrated to Mandatory Palestine from Poland in 1937, thereby escaping the Holocaust, in which members of her extended family perished. His father, Rafael Ayalon, immigrated from Algeria to Mandatory Palestine before the establishment of Israel in 1948. Both of his parents fought in the War of Independence, 1948 Arab–Israeli War. His mother fought in the War of Independence in Jerusalem, and was wounded in battle, and his father fought in the Golani Brigade. Ayalon was raised and educated in Tel Aviv and was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces where he rose to the rank of captain in the Armored Corps. He received a BA in economics from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from Bowling Green State University in Ohio.[1]
Prior to his career in public service, Ayalon was a partner at Gravitas Ltd., an international consulting group, past president of private investment firm Hod Ayalon Ltd, and a finance manager for Koor Industries.[2][3]
Ayalon is married to Anne Ayalon, who is from an American Evangelical Christian family. Ayalon met her while she was on internship in Israel, and she converted to Judaism.[4][5] The couple has two daughters, Zohar and Avigail.[1] He is a cousin of Orit Noked.[6]
Co-chairman of Nefesh B'Nefesh[edit]
Upon retiring from the foreign service in 2006, Ayalon became the co-chairman of Nefesh B'Nefesh, an organization that encourages Aliyah by Jewish people to Israel from North America and other English-speaking areas.[11] Forming alliances with government bodies in Israel and Jewish organizations from around the world, he played a critical role in Israel's decision to fund private Aliyah beginning in September 2007. On 31 December 2008, Ayalon left Nefesh B'Nefesh "to pursue an independent political career opportunity".[12]
Danny Ayalon was considered to be a highly valued and professional diplomat by senior government officials around the world including former Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.[13]
Deputy Foreign Minister[edit]
Election and appointment[edit]
In August 2008, Ayalon joined Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu as chairman of World Yisrael Beiteinu,[12] opening branches of the party around the globe. Ayalon explained that Israel Beiteinu was a natural fit for him as he entered politics because he saw many problems, especially with Israeli foreign policy.
Ayalon is working to reform the Israeli parliamentary style democracy into a less representative democratic government. Such change will allow Israel to have a greater unity of government and to take more uniformed political positions.[8]
Ayalon was placed seventh on the party's list for the 2009 elections to the Knesset,[14] and was elected in February 2009 after the party won 15 seats.[15] In April 2009, Ayalon was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's newly elected government.[16] According to The Jerusalem Post, "Ayalon's role is to serve as Lieberman's de facto foreign minister, explaining and justifying his Lieberman's diplomatic plans to the world in a way that only a respected, seasoned diplomat can".[8]
In December 2012, Ayalon was one of three Yisrael Beiteinu MKs not included on the party's list of candidates for the January 2013 elections. Ayalon "issued a statement saying he was thankful for the opportunity to serve as deputy foreign minister for four years and pledged to continue to act in the country's interests in any future role."[17]
Government and electoral reform[edit]
According to Ayalon, a major focus of Israeli diplomatic work involves branding: "We must brand Israel as a democratic Western society, productive and technologically advanced, one that contributes to the world and helps solve the major challenges facing humankind. Israeli democracy in general, and its political system in particular, are the best tools with which to showcase our brand". However, Ayalon, who admires the American system, in conjunction with Lieberman, calls for political and electoral reform in Israel to create greater accountability and consistency within the government, stating: "In autocratic regimes you have maximum govern-ability, because the leadership can make decisions without an opposition, and there are no checks or balances. Here, we are perhaps too far toward the other extreme; we have almost complete representation with little governability".[18] In his opinion, "a homogenous government, comprised of like-minded ministers speaking with one voice and representing a singular policy framework is required to contribute to clear public diplomacy, the sort of diplomacy that Israel sorely needs now to combat the cohesive narrative and branding effort put forth by the Palestinians".[19]
Foreign policy[edit]
Ayalon aims to develop and expand Israel's diplomatic ties worldwide and to form new coalitions through economic and political cooperation and greater foreign aid.[20] In 2011, he embarked on a Latin American tour with an official visit to Mexico and a visit to El Salvador where he attended the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), addressing the ramifications of the Palestinian unilateral declaration of statehood and the mounting Iranian threat.[21] Earlier, Ayalon had worked with several nations in order to combat the Goldstone Report and its effects.[22]
Social media[edit]
In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ayalon has worked to expand Israel's social media diplomacy by helping the ministry maintain over 100 Facebook pages, including "Israel speaks Arabic", a page written in Arabic.[50] After the initiatives launch, Ayalon explained that "it is vital that Israel's voice is heard in every corner of the world and even more so amongst its immediate neighbors".[51] Ayalon has over 65,000 Facebook followers.[52] The Jewish Telegraphic Agency ranked him as the most influential Israeli Politician on Twitter and one of the 100 most influential Jews in 2010.[53] Ayalon has more than 44,000 Twitter followers.[54] He also has nearly 1,000,000 totally upload views on YouTube.[55] He has been recognized as one of the world's leading politicians to utilize social media by web based policy center Dimpool and by Foreign Policy, surpassing President Barack Obama.[56][57]
Community service and involvement[edit]
Ayalon has served as a member of the Executive Board at the University Center in Ariel, as Vice Chair of the Israel-America Chamber of Commerce, and as a Board Member of the America-Israel Friendship League.[58] He is a supporter of Aish HaTorah yeshiva and says he tries to make time each week to learn with Rabbi Ephraim Shore of the yeshiva.[59]
In partnership with "Latet," Ayalon asked the workers at the Foreign Ministry as well as Green-Israel and Alma-Gilro to donate food to make over 100 Purim baskets for Holocaust survivors in Jerusalem.[60] In 2011, together with United with Israel, Ayalon helped launch another Purim basket campaign to give soldiers a special thank you during the holiday.[61] For Passover that same year, Ayalon and workers at the Ministry initiated the project, "Lending a (Diplomatic) Hand to the Community", where they hand-picked over 2,000 kg of beetroot that was donated to over 700 needy Israeli families.[62]
Ayalon has been a co-host on the English speaking Rusty Mike Radio station based in Jerusalem where he expressed his affection for the English speaking community and played some of his favorite music including the Beatles.[63]
Since 2014, Ayalon has been serving as a visiting professor of foreign policy studies at Yeshiva University. He is the founder of The Truth About Israel, a nonprofit organization that defends Israel in the social media.
Awards and recognition[edit]
In 2005, Ayalon received the Brandeis Award of the Jewish Community of Baltimore. He was the recipient of Aish Hatorah's Builder of Jerusalem Award in 2008.[64]