World Jewish Congress

Mordechai David Palzur was born in Poland in 1929. He immigrated to Palestine in 1943. He studied law at the Tel-Aviv School of Law and Economics and later studied law, international relations and political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has also taken postgraduate courses at various institutes and universities in Israel and abroad. During his career, he has lectured in various universities and educational centers on three continents in the fields of his specialization, receiving honorary awards such as Professor at the Faculty of Law and Political Sciences at the National University (Pedro Henriques Urena) of Santo Domingo and Ph.D. (honoris causa) from the Technological University of Santiago.

Mordechai David Palzur served as an officer during Israel's War of Independence (1948), and was injured and released from active service in 1949. Nevertheless, he served on the General Staff during the Six-Day War. He has been awarded Israeli military distinctions such as the Order of the Hagana [underground liberation movement]; Fighters of the State of Israel; Independence Star; and the Six-Day War ribbon.

He joined the Foreign Service in 1950 and served in Helsinki (1954–58), in Mexico as Consul and Second Secretary (1961–64), in Pretoria as Counselor and Chargé d'Affairs (1969–71) and simultaneously as Head of Mission to Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. He was Counselor and Chargé d'Affairs to Cyprus (1971–74). He happened to be the head of the Israeli Diplomatic Mission in Cyprus during the Turkish invasion of the island in the summer of 1974 and was cited for gallantry by the Israeli Foreign Minister, General Yigael Alon, for rescuing under fire a group of Israeli journalists. From 1975–78 he served as Ambassador to Bolivia, 1982–86 Ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis, Trinidad Tobago and Barbados. In 1986 he was appointed to Warsaw, making him the first Israeli diplomat to serve behind the Iron Curtain since the severance of diplomatic relations by Communist countries as a result of the Six-Day War. In Poland he served as Ambassador until 1990.

During the periods between his assignments abroad, he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem in various posts, such as Principal Assistant Director of Political-Economic Planning; Director of the Latin American Division; Director of the Center of Documentation, Records and Archives; and in his last post, 1990–1994, as the Chief of State Protocol.

Mordechai David Palzur speaks eight languages (Hebrew, English, Polish, German, Spanish, French, Russian and Yiddish) and is married to Dr. Juna Ginzburg. They have a son and a daughter.

Mordechai David Palzur retired from the Foreign Service at the age of 65 in July 1994 with the rank of Career Ambassador. A month later, he was offered the post of Senior Advisor to the president of a leading Israeli and international conglomerate—the Eisenberg Group of Companies. After over two years with Mr. Eisenberg, he resigned because his duties kept him abroad most of the time. At present, he dedicates his time to writing and is a member on the board of several committees on behalf of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. He holds several honorary positions, such as President of the Israel–Cyprus Friendship Association.

For his share in promoting diplomatic relations and friendship, Mordechai David Palzur has been honored by foreign countries with high distinctions such as: the Grand Cross of the National Order (Condor de los Andes) of Bolivia; the Grand Cross of the National Order of Duarte, Sanches, Mella of the Dominican Republic; Commander of the Order of Merit of the Polish People's Republic; and the Grand Cross with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland.

Mordechai David Palzur has been a member of the World Jewish Congress Research Institute since its inception. In June 2008 he was elected Chairman.

About the Institute of the World Jewish Congress

Ambassador Mordechai D. Palzur