Spokesperson and Consul for Media Affairs
Joël Lion is the Spokesperson and Consul for Media Affairs at the Consulate General of Israel in New York. He assumed this post in August 2009, and has since been responsible for maintaining direct contact with America’s national media in the tri-state area.
Consul Lion was born in France and raised in Luxembourg. Prior to joining the Consulate in New York, he served as Deputy Director for the Western European Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, and was responsible for political relations with Germany. During operation “Cast Lead”, Consul Lion worked as director in charge of the MFA Press Center in Sderot.
Previously, Mr. Lion was Counsellor, Head of the Public Affairs Department at Israel’s Embassy in Berlin. He also served as Deputy Chief of Mission Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania at the Israeli Embassy in Riga and was Charge D'Affaires for Slovakia at the Israeli Embassy in Vienna.
In 1999, Consul Lion became the first Israeli official to partake in the mission of election monitoring with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. At the start of the second Intifada in 2001, Mr. Lion operated as Spokesman with the MFA special team in Bethlehem.
In addition to his diplomatic career, Consul Lion has an extensive academic background. He earned his B.A. in Political Sciences from Hebrew University in 1988, and received his M.A. in History from the University of Latvia in 1998. Consul Lion is an Ordinate Orthodox Rabbi, who has worked for the JNF-KKL in Jerusalem, as well as the Ministry of Religious Affairs. In 1995, he completed the International Training Course in Security Policy of the Federal Military Department of Switzerland, in Geneva.
Consul Lion served in the Israel Defense Forces and attained the rank of Sergeant-Major in the Artillery Corps. He is fluent in Hebrew, English, French, German, Luxemburgish, Yiddish and basic Russian.
Mr. Lion is married to Rebeca, and is the proud father of eight children.
