Shlomi Kofman

Deputy Consul General, Consulate General of Israel in New York

As Deputy Consul General in New York, Israel’s largest mission, he coordinates the political work of the Consulate in the tri-state area, developing relations with national, state and local officials. He maintains regular contact with those following major foreign policy and strategic issues at think tanks and the elite universities. He acts as liaison for the Ministry with the National and Local leadership of the Jewish Community. In addition, he coordinates Inter-Faith dialogue and outreach nationally for the Foreign Ministry and its missions in the U.S.

Prior to his current appointment, Kofman served as Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Israeli Minister of National Infrastructures, and as head of the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Ministry of National Infrastructures. Before that he was head of the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Knesset, and served as Chief of Staff to ambassadors Sallai Meridor and Danny Ayalon at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC.

Kofman also served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Israel in Bangkok from 2003-2005, and directed Israel’s aid operations during and after the tsunami disaster of December 2004.

Earlier in his career, Kofman was officer of the desk of Chinese and Korean affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and prior to that Deputy Chief of Mission at the Consulate General of Israel in Shanghai.

Before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kofman worked as a systems engineer at Orbot in Seoul, South Korea. He served in the Israel Defense Forces as a systems support engineer for the Israeli Air Force.

While serving in Shanghai, Kofman earned an MBA from Webster University in St. Louis. He also holds a BA in International and East Asian Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as well as an AS in Electronic Engineering and a teaching certificate.

Kofman was born in Tbilisi, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, in 1970. He moved to Israel with his family at the age of 9, after three years of being refused permission to leave by the Soviet authorities. Today he lives in New York with his wife Sharon and their daughter Emma.

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