Consul General of Israel in New York
Ofir Akunis is the Consul General of Israel in New York
He served as Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology from 2015 to 2020, and from 2022 to 2024. During his first term, he led significant reforms aimed at expanding technology access to all Israeli citizens, especially in underserved communities and the periphery.
Throughout his tenure, he signed 30 international agreements to strengthen cooperation between Israel and other states, including the US, the UK, India, Japan, China, Argentina and many others.
In 2018, in honor of Israel's 70th Independence Day, he initiated and led a first-of-its-kind international conference in Jerusalem, attended by about 30 delegations from around the world, most led by the science ministers of their respective countries.
From 2020 to 2021, Akunis served as Israel’s Minister of Regional Cooperation. Under his watch, Israel signed the historic Abraham Accords peace agreements with the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, as well as Kosovo. And at his initiative, the ministry sent the first-ever municipal delegation of Israel’s Jewish and Arab mayors to the UAE, at the invitation of their Minister of International Cooperation, Reem Al Hashimi. Akunis also hosted the first Bahraini trade delegation to Israel, led by Bahrain's Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Zayed Al-Zayani.
In June 2021, Akunis established the Knesset’s Abraham Accords Caucus, the first of its kind, serving as a model for parliaments around the world. The caucus's launch in the Knesset was attended by, among others, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Previously, during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Akunis served as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs and led the ministry’s launch of operations to home-deliver over a million food portions Israel’s elderly population. The minister himself participated in food distribution in Lod, Netanya, Rishon LeTsiyon and Tel Aviv.
Akunis was first elected to the Knesset in 2009, and has served as Deputy Speaker, Chairman of the Economic Affairs Committee, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection. He was also responsible for the Israel Broadcasting Authority, and Chairman of the “Computer for Every Child” project. Within about a year and a half, he oversaw the distribution of 17,000 computers to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and in 2013, he launched an upgrade to the project entitled “Tablet for Every Child.” In the Knesset, he also served on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the State Control Committee.
Akunis is married to Adi and father to Yonatan and Roni. Before moving to New York, the family resided in Tel Aviv.