Shlomo Ben-Ami

Shlomo Ben-Ami (born July 17 1943 is an Israeli diplomat, politician and author.

Ben-Ami was born in Tangier, Morocco to Sephardic Jewish parents. He later immigrated to Israel. His first major post was as Israel's ambassador to Spain from 1987 until 1991. He then entered politics and was elected to the Knesset in 1996.

When the Labor Party government of Ehud Barak took office in July 1999, Ben-Ami became the Minister of Public Security. In August 2000, when David Levy resigned as foreign minister of Israel during talks with Palestinian leaders in the United States, Barak designated Ben-Ami to be the acting foreign minister. He was officially appointed foreign minister in November 2000. Meanwhile, the Or commission held him responsible for riots in October 2000 in which Arabs were killed by Israeli police, in his capacity as security minister. However, he was not considered to be a hard-liner in Israeli relations with the Palestinians. During his time in the Barak government, he was a political rival of Shimon Peres.

Ben-Ami remained foreign minister and security minister until March 2001, when, having won elections, the government of Ariel Sharon took office. Ben-Ami refused to serve in the Sharon government. He became an author of books on Israeli issues, and his book "What Is The Future Of Israel?" has sold well and been translated into several languages.

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