Asaf Shariv assumed the post of Consul General of Israel in New York in August 2007. Immediately prior to his appointment, he was the Director of Media and Public Affairs to Prime Ministers Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon. As the Prime Minsters’ personal media advisor and member of the Senior Staff, his responsibilities included supervising the Government’s Press Office and Advertising Bureau. He was also the spokesman for various government agencies, such as the Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad), the Atomic Energy Committee, the National Security Committee and the Counter-Terrorism Unit.
Born in Israel in 1972, Mr. Shariv is the youngest diplomat to date that has ever been designated as Israel’s Consul General to the New York Area. He brings to the Consulate an insider’s perspective of the Israeli political scene, as well as a youthful enthusiasm. During his tenure in New York, he is committed to reaching out to the next generation of Jewish leaders in the tri-state area, particularly through the use of modern media, in order to prepare and encourage them to deal with the increasingly dynamic social and demographic landscapes that shape Israeli society.
Consul General Shariv got his start in Public Affairs in 1990, as a soldier in the I.D.F., during which time he was a reporter and senior editor for the weekly BaMachane, the official newspaper of the Israeli military. In 1993, Mr. Shariv was promoted to Acting Editor-in-Chief of BaMachane, and managed a team of 30 reporters, editors and producers. After completing his army service, he worked as a deputy editor at Globes Newspaper.
In 1997, he earned a degree in law from The Interdisciplinary Center of Israel, and until 2002 practiced as an attorney at the Tel-Aviv firm of Weissglass-Almagor.
In 2002, Mr. Shariv joined the Prime Minister’s Office as Senior Advisor to Ariel Sharon’s Chief-of-Staff. While at this position, he sat on the Prime Minister’s committee that discussed strategic issues with the American government, and was instrumental in formalizing the MOU between Israel and the United States regarding the Road Map for Peace. He was also a member of the special task force which dealt with issues such as the route of the security fence, the disengagement from Gaza and the US guarantees on Israeli bonds.
Mr. Shariv is married to Tzili, also an attorney, and is the proud father of Uri (3 years) and Mika, born in June 2007.
