Tamar Golan
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Tamar Golan was an Israeli journalist and diplomat, who was especially known for her work to promote relations between Israel and African nations, and for her efforts to increase knowledge and awareness of African culture in Israel.
Golan visited Africa for the first time in 1961 when she, with her husband, Aviyahu Golan, joined an Israeli delegation to Ethiopia, where she served as a teacher. She returned to Kibbutz Lahav in 1958 following her husband's death in Ethiopia. She never remarried. She worked as a journalist in several Israeli media outlets, and in the BBC African department, but spent most of her career with Maariv, reporting from African and Arab countries. She also worked as a Maariv reporter in Paris. The fact that she had dual Israeli-French nationality, and therefore entitled to a French passport, enabled her enter countries hostile to Israel.
She built a network of contacts with influential figures in Africa and in France, and received requests from Israeli officials to help maintain contacts with African leaders, especially following the Six Day War, when many African countries cut their diplomatic relations with Israel. In 1994, Golan was named Israeli ambassador to Angola, a position she filled until 2002. She returned to Angola later on, upon the request of the Angolan President, in order to help establish a task force, under the auspices of the UN, for the removal of landmines. When she came back to Israel, Golan returned to Kibbutz Lahav and lived there for the rest of her life. She became active in a foundation that helped Bedouin youth obtain higher education and established a center for African studies at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba.
From Wikipedia.