{"record":{"aliases":[],"appointmentIds":["israel-4ee74856543770","israel-1bc3db8ed9205a"],"appointmentsDataset":"https://chanceries.org/diplomats.json","archivalSources":[],"canonicalUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/zalman-shoval-03f26c5ba2/","countrySlug":"israel","entityId":"https://chanceries.org/diplopedia/people/zalman-shoval-03f26c5ba2/#person","eventIds":[],"expandedParagraphs":["Zalman Shoval's family left Danzig for Palestine in 1938. He studied international relations at Berkeley and the Graduate Institute in Geneva, entered the Foreign Ministry, and then moved into banking. He joined the Knesset in 1970 and became a Likud politician. Moshe Dayan brought him back into the ministry to direct foreign information work during the Egyptian peace negotiations.","His first Washington term, from 1990 to 1993, involved the Gulf War, Israeli requests for American loan guarantees, and the Madrid peace talks. In his memoir, Shoval recalled advising Yitzhak Shamir against military retaliation for Iraqi missile attacks because it could endanger the coalition against Iraq and Israel's relationship with Washington. He participated in the Madrid conference and subsequent negotiations with Jordanian and Palestinian delegations.","Shoval returned as ambassador from 1998 to 2000. In an interview at the start of his second term, he warned that Israeli parties had damaged Jewish communal unity abroad by exporting their domestic political arguments. He sought a central role for the embassy in both the peace process and relations with American Jews. Between and after diplomatic assignments he remained active in banking, public affairs, and the arts, including leadership of the Bank of Jerusalem and the New Israel Opera."],"id":"israel:zalman-shoval","identifiers":{},"legacyPersonIds":[],"legacyUrl":"https://chanceries.org/diplomat-03f26c5ba268fd931f23.html","name":"Zalman Shoval","notes":[],"paragraphSources":[["shoval-geneva","shoval-embassy"],["shoval-memoir-review","shoval-embassy"],["shoval-interview","shoval-embassy"]],"profileUrl":"diplomat-03f26c5ba268fd931f23.html","relatedEvents":[],"relatedPeople":[],"relationships":[],"researchStatus":"reviewed","reviewedOn":"2026-10-28","revision":"b4abfd5f6b38e973","sources":[{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"2019-10-22","id":"shoval-geneva","locator":"Alumnus interview","publisher":"Geneva Graduate Institute","title":"From Student to Diplomat: A Former Israeli Ambassador Reflects on His Time at the Institute","type":"primary-record","url":"https://www.graduateinstitute.ch/communications/news/student-diplomat-former-israeli-ambassador-reflects-his-time-institute"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":null,"id":"shoval-embassy","locator":"Full biography","publisher":"Israeli Embassy biography reproduced by Jewish Virtual Library","title":"Zalman Shoval","type":"official-biography","url":"https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Shoval.html"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"2020-02-27","id":"shoval-memoir-review","locator":"Discussion of Gulf War chapters in Jerusalem and Washington","publisher":"Sheldon Kirshner Journal","title":"Memoirs Of An Israeli Ambassador","type":"reference","url":"https://sheldonkirshner.com/memoirs-of-an-israeli-ambassador-2/"},{"accessedOn":"2026-10-28","date":"1998-08-14","id":"shoval-interview","locator":"Opening profile and interview; direct retrieval saved","publisher":"New York Jewish Week, James Besser","title":"The Activist Ambassador","type":"contemporary-report","url":"https://www.jta.org/1998/08/14/ny/the-activist-ambassador"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"2026-10-24","id":"mission-648454f87e3f48676b6b","locator":"Actual archived HTML downloaded and gzip-decompressed. Page dated 8 October 2013 but includes Dermer credential row 3 December 2013. Records Appt. separately from Amb. E. and P.; keep both literal labels. Original https://2009-2017.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/94062.htm returned a Technical Difficulties page. Archive provides actual content.","publisher":"","title":"Diplomatic Representation for State of Israel — incoming chiefs chronology","type":"Mission record","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20230501111944/https://2009-2017.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/94062.htm"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"2026-10-24","id":"mission-cbfd33abe5151e3f9436","locator":"Archived official roster, 1948–2006. It dates Shoval’s second term to 1998–2000 and Ivry’s term to 2000–2002, corroborated by the State Protocol appointment dated 18 January 2000. The supplemental JVL summary differs on this transition.","publisher":"","title":"Former Ambassadors to the U.S.","type":"Mission record","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/20080316011438/http://www.israelemb.org/bios/ambassador_list.html"},{"accessedOn":"","date":"2026-10-24","id":"mission-6d18737a73c07c8542df","locator":"Shoval served from 1990 to February 1993 and again following his July 1998 appointment. He participated in the Madrid Conference and the negotiating team with Jordanian and Palestinian delegations. He chaired the New Israel Opera between terms.","publisher":"","title":"Zalman Shoval","type":"Mission record","url":"https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/zalman-shoval"}],"topics":["Gulf War","Madrid peace conference","loan guarantees","public diplomacy"]},"schemaVersion":1}