Avi Beker

Who is Avi Beker?

Avi Beker is a writer, statesman, and since August 2007 the Goldman Visiting Professor at the Department of Government at Georgetown University, Washington D.C. Previously he was a Professor at the Harold Hartog School of Government and Policy at Tel Aviv University.

Born in Tel-Aviv in 1951, Beker served in the Israel Defense Forces and rose to the rank of Captain. He is a graduate of Tel Aviv University with a Ph.D. in Political Science from the City University of New York.

Dr. Beker heads the Jewish Public Policy Project and the UN-Israel Institute at the Hartog School of Government and Policy. He is a columnist for Haaretz.

Beker was Secretary General of the World Jewish Congress in 2002-03, and International Director and Head of the WJC Israel office.

Beker was a member of the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations. He was also a delegate to five General Assemblies and two Special Sessions of the General Assembly on disarmament, May–June, 1978 and June–July, 1982.

Beker worked with several governments on ownership of property confiscated during the Nazi period. He served on the Claims Conference of Material Claims against Germany, the Norwegian Foundation for Jewish Heritage, The Dutch Jewish Fund, The Government Foundation for Restitution in the Czech Republic, and The Slovak Fund on Jewish Property.