Ido
Aharoni

Ambassador Ido Aharoni, senior counselor and member of APCO’s International Advisory Council, serves as global distinguished professor at New York University’s School of International Relations in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Ambassador Aharoni is a 25-year veteran of Israel’s Foreign service, a public diplomacy specialist, founder of the Brand Israel program and a well-known nation branding practitioner. Ambassador Aharoni, who served as Israel’s longest serving consul-general in New York and the tristate area for six years, oversaw the operations of Israel’s largest diplomatic mission worldwide.

In September 2007, Aharoni was appointed to serve as the nation’s first head of brand management in Jerusalem, designed to improve Israel’s positioning in the world by highlighting its relative advantages and increasing its relevance.

In the spring of 2006 he was appointed to serve as a senior advisor and press secretary to Israel’s foreign minister and vice prime minister Zippy Livni. In that capacity, he introduced nation branding methods and country positioning strategies as pillars of Israel’s public diplomacy.

In 2002, Aharoni initiated the inclusion of Israel in the BAV (Brand Asset Valuator), the world’s largest database on brands maintained by advertising giant Y&R (Young and Rubicam). Later that year, he convened the Brand Israel Group, an independent group of marketing and branding specialists, thus creating the foundation to what would later become the Brand Israel Program.

Between 2001-2005, Aharoni served as Israel’s consul for media and public affairs at Israel’s Consulate General in New York and the Tri-State area. He assumed this position several weeks prior to the terror attacks of 9/11. As the head of the department, Aharoni oversaw the operation of Israel’s largest public diplomacy and media relations apparatus worldwide.

From 1994-1998, Aharoni served as Israel’s consul for communications and public affairs in Los Angeles and the southwestern United States. In that position, he covered the seven southwestern States of the USA and worked extensively in some of America’s top markets (Greater Los Angeles, San Diego, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Salt Lake City and Denver).

Over the years Aharoni received multiple awards recognizing his contribution from national Jewish organizations such as The Albert Einstein Foundation, Israel Bonds Corporation, UJA of New York (United Jewish Appeal), Association of American-Russian Jewry, AJC (American Jewish Committee), Jewish National Fund, Beit Hatfusot Museum, Hadassah Women’s Organization, Friends of Hebrew University of USA and Canada, Friends of Soroka Hospital, Friends of Tel Aviv University, and many others. In September of 2016 Ambassador Aharoni was honored by the Jerusalem Foundation at the New York Metropolitan Museum.

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