Jump to content

Ido Aharoni

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ido Aharoni Aronoff
Ambassador, Consul General of Israel in New York, and the Tri-State Area
In office
August 23, 2010 – August 1, 2016
Preceded byAsaf Shariv
Succeeded byDani Dayan
Personal details
Born (1962-08-21) 21 August 1962 (age 62)
Tel Aviv, Israel
SpouseJulie Goodman (since 1985)
Children3
EducationTel Aviv University (BA), Emerson College (MA)

Ido Aharoni Aronoff (Hebrew: עידו אהרוני ארונוף; born 21 August 1962) is an Israeli career diplomat, advisor to international companies, public speaker and university lecturer, writer and investor. He was born in Jaffa (Tel Aviv), Israel. Aharoni spent his entire diplomatic career in the United States. He is a 25-year veteran of Israel's Foreign service.[1] He is a public diplomacy specialist, founder of the Brand Israel Program, and a place positioning practitioner.[2] Aharoni has served as a member of the Board Governors of Tel Aviv University and its cabinet since 2015 and as a lecturer at the university's Coller School of Management since 2018 [3] and is the host of TAU Unbound, the official English language podcast of Tel Aviv University.[4] In April 2024, Aharoni, was appointed a Global Distinguished Professor of Business at Touro University[5] and in August 2024 he was appointed as a Visiting Professorship at San Diego State University (SDSU) School of Business and University of California San Diego (UCSD) School of Global Policy.[6] He is the co-founder and Global Ambassador for the Genius 100 Visions community [7] and serves as a consultant to international companies such as MasterCard[8] APCO Worldwide,[9] The Libra Group,[10] Bank Leumi USA and Value Base,[11] He is a co-founder of Israel-based consultancy Emerson Rigby Ltd.[12] and of British-Israeli investment company EA2K.[13]

Early life

[edit]

Ido Aharoni Aronoff was born in Tel Aviv in 1962 and raised in Holon. He attended CH.N. Bialik Elementary School and H. Kugel High School, both in Holon. His mother, Ahuva Aharoni (née Madar), was a kindergarten teacher.[14] She was born in Tel Aviv in 1932. Her Parents came from Yemen in 1912 and settled in the Yemenite section of Tel Aviv known as Kerem HaTeimanim, and later moved to Hatikva neighborhood of Tel Aviv where Aharoni spent significant time with his grandparents. [citation needed]:

His father, Emanuel Aharoni Aronoff,[15] was a scholar, author, expert on the country's geography, lecturer and one of the early environmentalists in Israel.[16] He was of Bukharan family and was born in Mersin, Turkey in 1926 to Rabbi Avraham Aronoff (b. 1888) and his wife Hanna Aronoff (ne’e Yohananoff). Aharoni's great-grandfather, Rabbi Emanuel Aronoff, settled in Jerusalem in 1874 and was one of the founders of the Bukharan Quarter. He was known as the “first Bukharan to move to Jerusalem by foot”. Aharoni's father was a member of the Haganah and participated in the 1948 War of Independence where he was injured twice in battle.[17] In 2001 he was given the Honorary Citizen Award by the City of Holon.[18]

Education

[edit]

Aharoni obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tel Aviv University with a joint-major in Film and Television, Sociology and Anthropology.[19] In 1990, he earned a master's degree in Mass Communications from Emerson College in Boston.[20] In 1993 Aharoni attended the Hebrew University special program for foreign service cadets in Government and Diplomacy.[21]

Diplomatic career

[edit]

Aharoni was a member of Israel's Foreign Service from 1991 to 2016 and held positions in Los Angeles and New York.[22][23] He was Israel's longest-serving Consul-General in New York and the Tri-State Area, from 2010 to 2016, where he oversaw Israel's largest diplomatic mission worldwide.[24][25]

Prior to his arrival in New York, Aharoni served as a policy advisor to the Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem.[citation needed]:

In the Spring of 2006, he became Senior Advisor and Press Secretary to Israel's Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. In that capacity, he introduced nation branding methods and country positioning strategies as pillars of Israel's public diplomacy.[26]

From 1994 to 1998, Aharoni served as Israel's Consul for Communications and Public Affairs in Los Angeles, working extensively with the entertainment industry and top American markets (Greater Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Salt Lake City and Denver.)[citation needed]:

In 1993, Aharoni served under then-Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, as policy advisor to Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians, in which capacity he took part in back-channel negotiations in Europe and the Middle East. This led to the signing of The Declaration of Principles and the Mutual Recognition Agreement, known as the Oslo Accords. Aharoni was a member of the Israel's delegation to the White House.[6]

Brand Israel

[edit]

In 2002, Aharoni initiated the Brand Israel program after meeting with advertising executive David Sable, then with Wunderman, and introduced him to the general concept of place branding. Aharoni facilitated the inclusion of Israel in the Brand Asset Valuator (BAV), the world's largest brand database maintained by Young and Rubicam (now VMLYR), thus launching Israel's national branding program.

In 2002–2003, Aharoni convened the Brand Israel Group[27] in New York, an independent group of marketing and branding specialists. Their work laid the foundation for the official Brand Israel Program, which was subsequently launched by the Foreign Minister in October 2006. In 2018, Harvard Business School published a case study report on Israel's place positioning based on the initiative's.[28]

In 2007, Aharoni was appointed as Israel's first Head of Brand Management team,[29] designed to enhance Israel's positioning in various areas, including tourism, investment, commerce, culture, political, and reputation management. The program aimed to showcase Israel's global relevance by leveraging its advantages.[30][31][32][33]

In 2015, Aharoni presented the idea of creating a global index to rank countries as brands, to publisher Mort Zuckerman and then to advertising executive David Sable, then the CEO of Y&R. This introduction resulted in partnership that produced the Best Countries Index by U.S. News & World Report. The data is collected by BAV (Brand Asset Valuator) and analyzed and presented by U.S. News & World Report. This venture was later joined by Wharton School of Business and unveiled in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum of 2016[34][35]

Brand Albert Einstein

[edit]

In 2007 Aharoni presented the Brand Israel plan to Israel's government, including an entire section devoted to Albert Einstein, aiming to connect Brand Israel to creativity and innovation. The plan included the creation of the Albert Einstein National Hall in Jerusalem. In 2017, Aharoni recruited art collector Jose Mugrabi to implement the idea. Mugrabi committed all the resources to the creation of the museum and then commissioned architect Daniel Libeskind to design the 64M NIS building. In June 2023 Jose and Marie Mugrabi broke ground in Jerusalem. The Albert Einstein House is expected to open in 2025.[36][37][38]

Career

[edit]

Since September 2016 he has been a Global Distinguished Professor of International Relations at New York University's in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.[39] His publications are listed on Google scholar [40]

Aharoni is an active public speaker, having delivered numerous lectures on the Middle East affairs, nation branding and other public matters at institutions in Israel and the US, including Carnegie Mellon University (2007),[41] the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (2010),[42] Barnard College (2012),[43] Emerson College (2012),[20] San Diego State University (2012),[44] Colgate University (2013),[45] Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business (2013),[46] Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley (2013),[47] Boston University (2014),[48] University of Haifa (2014),[49] University of Tulsa (2014),[50] Wharton Business School (2015),[51] Yale School of Management (2015),[52] Johnson School of Management at Cornell University (2016),[53] Columbia Law School (2016),[54] Florida Atlantic University (2018),[55] Stony Brook University (2019),[56] and many others.

Aharoni has frequently been invited as an analyst and article author in US and Israeli news media and newspapers, mainly covering Israel's international affairs and nation branding.[57][58][59][60][61][62][63] In 2013, he was invited by Google to take part in their speakers’ series Talks at Google.[64] He has been a public advocate to the branding of Israel by increasing the visibility of its better perceived traits (diversity, democracy, agriculture, science, high technology, history and culture) rather than by the more demanding attempting to improve the public's understanding and complexity of its international conflicts and related policies.[65][66][51][67]

Since 2015, he has been member of the Board of Governors (and the global campaign cabinet) at Tel Aviv University.[68] He was a facilitator to a ten million dollar gift by Hollywood producer and NFL owner Steve Tish to Tel Aviv University's Department of Film and Television.[69]

In 2016 Aharoni became Global Ambassador of Maccabi World Union, a Jewish sporting organization.[70] In 2017 Aharoni became Ambassador for the Genius 100 Vision Foundation, which he helped establish in the spirit of Albert Einstein.[71] In 2018 Aharoni became the Chairman of the Charney Forum for New Diplomacy, the forum is academically affiliated with the University of Haifa and focused on training the new generations on advanced practices of diplomacy.[72][73] In 2021 Aharoni became Chairman of GMFF, an Israeli film and TV fund dedicated to multiculturalism.[X] He is also a member of the advisory bodies of companies APCO Worldwide,[74] and Value Base.[75]

Published interviews to Aharoni on his subjects of expertise can be readily found online.[51][76][77][78][79][80]

Honors

[edit]

In 1998, Aharoni was given the Community Leadership Award in Los Angeles by the American Friends of the Rabin Medical Center.[21][81]  In 2005, a communications studies scholarship, ‘Wings of Hope,’ was named after him by the Yemenite-Jewish Federation of North America.[21][81] In 2013, Algemeiner Journal named him among the ‘Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life,’ commonly known as the Jewish 100.[82] In 2015 he was designated Honorary Governor by Tel Aviv University.[68] In 2016, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced July 29, 2016, as “Ambassador Ido Aharoni Day” in New York while expressing: I don't know anyone who's done more to bond New York City and Israel, and the people of the United States and Israel.[83] In 2019, he was selected by Hello Israel TV as one of the “Global Jewish 100”, recognizing his contributions as an Israeli diplomat.[84]

Military Service

[edit]

Aharoni served in the Israel Defense Forces as an infantry company commander during the first Lebanon War.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Government decision no. 2016 on appointment in foreign service".
  2. ^ Reibstein, David (1 May 2015). "Why Brand Capital Is Part of National Security".
  3. ^ "Campaign Cabinet". 25 September 2017.
  4. ^ "TAU Unbound". YouTube.
  5. ^ "Former Israeli Consul General Appointed Global Distinguished Professor at Touro University". touro.edu. 4 April 2024.
  6. ^ a b "Genius 100 Foundation Global Ambassador Ido Aharoni Appointed to Teach at San Diego's Elite Universities". Fox 5 San Diego. 6 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Genius 100 Global community". YouTube. 16 August 2020.
  8. ^ "NYU professor Ido Aharoni-Aronoff to join board of Mastercard and Enel-X's FinSec Innovation Lab". calcalistech. 7 October 2021.
  9. ^ "Global Distinguished Professor At Nyu School Of International Relations; Member Of Israel's Foreign Service Since 1991". apcoworldwide.
  10. ^ "Global Advisory Board".
  11. ^ "The members of the Advisory Board".
  12. ^ "Emerson Rigby".
  13. ^ "An island. Islands. Tu. Kay LTD. \ EA2K Ltd - 515924439".
  14. ^ Cohen, Tal (24 July 2010). "אהובתי מאז ולתמיד: סודות מזוגיות בת 50 שנה". NRG.
  15. ^ Aderet, Ofer (16 June 2017). "הלוחם שקיווה כי מלחמת העצמאות היא האחרונה". haaretz.
  16. ^ Aharoni, Emanuel (2007). להפוך חול לזהב: סיפורה של חולון (in Hebrew). Israel: הוצאת עיריית חולון.
  17. ^ "עמנואל אהרוני ז"ל" [The late Emanuel Aharoni]. Avelim. 26 February 2017.
  18. ^ "אות יקיר העיר חולון". Holon Municipality. 2001.
  19. ^ "Aharoni Receives Cabinet Approval". algemeiner.com. March 2, 2011.
  20. ^ a b "Israel's Consul General explains country positioning". Emerson Today. 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2021-06-17.
  21. ^ a b c "Ido Aharoni - Global Distinguished Professor". New York University.
  22. ^ "Foreign consular offices in the United States". 2005.
  23. ^ "Aharoni Receives Cabinet Approval". March 2, 2011.
  24. ^ רובינשטיין, קרי (July 1, 2016). "פרידה משחקן מרכזי". Ynet.
  25. ^ Netanyahu, Benjamin (16 June 2016). "Ido Aharoni".
  26. ^ לנסקי, וייץ (23 October 2007). "עכשיו תורך". haaretz.
  27. ^ Popper, Nathaniel (October 14, 2005). "Israel Aims To Improve Its Public Image". Forward.
  28. ^ Grinstein A, Aharoni I (15 February 2002). "How to (re)position a country? A case study of the power of micro-marketing". Place Branding and Public Diplomacy. 13 (4): 293–307. doi:10.1057/S41254-017-0055-9. S2CID 36978594.
  29. ^ "Ambassador Ido Aharoni". Wharton university of Pennsylvania. 2007.
  30. ^ גרינגר, נורית (20 December 2012). "מיתוג חדש לישראל". News 1.
  31. ^ יודל, חני (20 April 2010). "בשביל מיתוג ישראל צריך יותר מבר רפאלי". NRG.
  32. ^ קורן, אורה (23 August 2010). "פורום ראשי המשק ישתתף בפרויקט מיתוג למדינה; "על ישראל להיות אטרקטיבית לא פחות מצודקת"". The Marker.
  33. ^ Torossian, Ronn (10 October 2010). "The Top 10 Living Spokespeople for Jews and Israel". algemeiner.
  34. ^ יודוביץ', דפנה (21 July 2010). "המיתוג החדש של מדינת ישראל: "אנרגיה יצירתית"". Globes.
  35. ^ Davis, Elliot (27 September 2022). "Switzerland Is No. 1 in 2022 U.S. News Best Countries Rankings". U.S News.
  36. ^ Siegel-Itzkovich, Judy (10 June 2023). "Israel recruits the Einstein name to become a 'popular brand' worldwide". The Jerusalem Post.
  37. ^ Bergman, Alexandra (18 June 2023). "Albert Einstein House Set To Open In Jerusalem In 2024". Forbes.
  38. ^ Eichner, Itamar (15 June 2023). "Israel taps renowned architect to built [sic] Albert Einstein Museum in Jerusalem". Ynet.
  39. ^ "Global Distinguished Professorship". New York University.
  40. ^ "Ido Aharoni". scholar.google.es. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  41. ^ "Aharoni speaks on branding - The Tartan". thetartan.club.cc.cmu.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  42. ^ "Tenth Annual Herzliya Conference" (PDF). Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya.
  43. ^ "Change They Can Believe In?". Barnard Magazine. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  44. ^ "NewsCenter | SDSU | Israeli Consul Discusses Middle East Affairs". newscenter.sdsu.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  45. ^ "Israeli ambassador Ido Aharoni talks about politics and innovation at Colgate | Colgate University". www.colgate.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  46. ^ "Book Reviews: Global Week at Fuqua". Ford Library. 2013-11-15. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  47. ^ Andersen, Elizabeth; Crane, David M.; Powers, Shannon Elizabeth; Law, American Society of International; Institution, Chautauqua. Proceedings of the Seventh International Humanitarian Law Dialogs. ISBN 9780984294466. OCLC 897212890. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  48. ^ "How to Brand a Country: a lecture by Ambassador Ido Aharoni, Consul General of Israel in New York". JewishBoston. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  49. ^ "The American Society of the University of Haifa held it's [sic] 2014 Gala at the American Museum of Natural History". University of Haifa. 30 October 2014.
  50. ^ "Israeli ambassador to NY area to speak at TU". Tulsa World. Associated Press. 12 February 2014. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  51. ^ a b c Reibstein, David. "Ido Aharoni: Why Brand Capital Is Part of National Security". knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  52. ^ "A Conversation with Ido Aharoni, Consul General of Israel in New York". Yale School of Management. 2015-10-05. Archived from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  53. ^ "Cornell Tech - 4 Ways Israeli Culture Boosts Entrepreneurship". Cornell Tech. 2016-01-15. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  54. ^ "The Rise of the 'Info-sumer' and the Future of Public Diplomacy". www.law.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  55. ^ "Israeli Politics Lectures - Ambassador Ido Aharoni". Florida Atlantic University.
  56. ^ "Aharoni Bio | Conference 2019". www.stonybrook.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  57. ^ "Palestinian President must break pact with Hamas: Aharoni". CNBC. 2014-07-18. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  58. ^ "Iran deal alienate Israel?". CNBC. 2013-11-27. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  59. ^ "Israeli Ambassador Aharoni: Iran not as far from U.S. as we think". Fox Business. 4 February 2017. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  60. ^ Israel bars Congresswomen Tlaib and Omar from visiting, retrieved 2021-06-19
  61. ^ "Why the Har Adar attack was so dramatic for those of us who live here". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  62. ^ "How the United Nations Human Rights Council Unfairly Targets Israel". Time. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  63. ^ Yudelson, Larry. "Social media to the rescue". jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  64. ^ How to Market a Country | Ambassador Ido Aharoni | Talks at Google, 22 August 2012, retrieved 2021-06-20
  65. ^ Frazer, Jenni (25 July 2019). "JN meets… Ido Aharoni: the 'nation brander' intent on making Israel cool". jewishnews.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2021-06-12.
  66. ^ "Israeli Public Diplomacy's Longstanding Blind Spot: Arab Publics". USC Center on Public Diplomacy. 2011-03-09. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  67. ^ Oryszczuk, Stephen (25 July 2019). "Jewish News backs platform for unheard voices". jewishnews.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  68. ^ a b "2020 Board Of Governors Meeting" (PDF). taubog2020.com.
  69. ^ "Steve Tisch Makes Transformative $10M Gift to Tel Aviv University's Renowned Department of Film and Television". www.businesswire.com. 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  70. ^ "Secretariat". www.maccabi.org. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  71. ^ "Einstein Legacy Project Launch Event". www.genius100visions.com. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  72. ^ "Advisory Board". Charney New Diplomacy. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  73. ^ Amir, Justine. "New Dedications: Facilities & Initiatives". magazine.haifa.ac.il. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  74. ^ "Ido Aharoni - APCO Worldwide". APCO Worldwide. Retrieved 2021-06-19.
  75. ^ "Value Base - About Us". ValueBase. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  76. ^ "How Israel has Rebranded Amid a Volatile Geopolitical Backdrop". adage.com. 2013-08-20. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  77. ^ רובינשטיין, קרי (2016-06-30). "פרידה משחקן מרכזי". ynet (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  78. ^ "Building Israel's Brand: An Interview with Ambassador Ido Aharoni". Public Diplomacy Magazine. April 2017. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  79. ^ "Ron Arad x Genius 100". NUVO. 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  80. ^ Eichner, Itamar (2021-03-15). "'Do not eulogize the U.S. just yet'". ynetnews. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  81. ^ a b "Ambassador Ido Aharoni". whartonnationbrand. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  82. ^ "Algemeiner Jewish 100: The Full List". Algemeiner.com. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
  83. ^ "Mayor Bill de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray Deliver Remarks at Jewish Heritage Reception". The official website of the City of New York. Jun 29, 2016. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
  84. ^ "The Global Jewish 100 – Celebrating the People Moving Jewish Culture Forward". IZZY. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ido_Aharoni&oldid=1248780501"