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About
Ruth Wasserman Lande is an Israeli diplomat, academic, politician, and strategic consultant. Born to Lithuanian immigrant parents Pinchas and Sofia Lande in Israel, she relocated with her family to Cape Town, South Africa at age nine, attending Herzlia High School, before returning to Israel at age 17. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and Communications (Cum Laude) from Bar-Ilan University, an M.A. with a thesis on the Israel-Palestinian Oslo Accords negotiations (recipient of the Simcha Pratt Award) from an unspecified institution, and an M.A. in Policy and Government from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government as a Wexner Israel Fellow. Her career includes diplomatic service as head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs desk for the UK and Ireland (2001), and at the Israeli Embassy in Egypt from 2003, where she focused on political and economic relations and served as de facto Deputy Chief of Mission by 2006 and former official Deputy Chief of Mission. From 2007-2009, she was seconded as an advisor to President Shimon Peres. She later served nearly a decade as Deputy Director General for International Affairs at the Israeli Federation of Local Authorities, collaborating with Jewish and Arab mayors. Wasserman Lande is a columnist for Maariv (since 2019), a Middle East commentator for NPR and Israeli channels, founder and CEO of a strategic consultancy, senior fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, board member of the Israeli-Gulf Chamber of Commerce, and founder/co-chair of the Knesset Caucus for promoting the Abraham Accords. Politically, she served short terms as a Knesset member for the Blue and White party in early 2021 (replacing Meirav Cohen and Yizhar Shai) and regained her seat after Ram Shefa's resignation, serving until 2022. Personally, she lived in Lod, Israel for a decade with her ex-husband Aviv, co-founding the Lod Community Foundation in 2008 to promote tourism, culture, education, and employment. She is fluent in Hebrew, English, Russian, and Arabic.