David Kimche was born in Hampstead, London, England, into a family descended from an aristocratic Jewish lineage that settled in Switzerland and produced several prominent rabbis. His parents had relocated to England, where Kimche and his older brother Jon engaged in Zionist political activities following World War II. In 1948, at the age of 20, he immigrated to the newly founded State of Israel, marking the beginning of his deep involvement in the country's security and diplomatic affairs. Early in his career, Kimche worked as a journalist for the Jerusalem Post after earning a doctorate from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In 1953, he joined Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, operating under journalistic cover in Paris and eventually rising to deputy director, a position he held until 1980. He later served as Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. As a former senior Mossad official, Kimche was a key Israeli intermediary in the Iran-Contra arms deals, connecting the American, Israeli, and Iranian sides of the operation. Post-government, he served as president of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations and was a member of the steering committee for the International Alliance for Arab-Israel Peace, contributing to efforts aimed at fostering Arab-Israeli dialogue.