A special committee headed by Cabinet Secretary Israel Maimon appointed Israeli ambassador to the Ukraine Naomi Ben-Ami as the new head of Nativ, an organization that acts as an emissary between Israel and Jews in former Soviet states.

The organization mainly deals with issuing visas for Jews from these countries who want to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return. Nativ also runs Jewish cultural centers in a number of former Soviet states.

Ben-Ami will replace Tzvi Magen, who served as the head of Nativ for seven years.

	Advertisement

Candidate for the position included former Foreign Ministry officials, high-ranking retired Israel Defense Forces officers, and a number of members of the Israeli diplomatic corps.

Ben-Ami, 46, is a married mother of two and has worked for the Foreign Ministry since 1983. For the past three years, she has served as the Israeli ambassador to the Ukraine, and before that worked as the political advisor for the Israeli embassy in Moscow.

Ben-Ami immigrated to Israel in 1973 from the Ukraine, and holds a degree from Hebrew University in International Relations and Soviet Studies.