Will Arab woman represent Israel abroad?
Photo: Oren Agmon
Arab woman eyes Foreign Service
High Court judge's daughter first Arab Israeli to be accepted into Foreign Ministry cadet training course
Rania Jubran, a 26 year-old lawyer from Haifa, is about to make history and become the first Israeli-Arab ever to be accepted to the prestigious Foreign Ministry cadet training course.
Jubran successfully passed a rigorous series of tests and evaluations and is due to start the course this coming April. If she completes her training, she will be the first Arab diplomat to be admitted to the Foreign Service through the course, Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.
The Foreign Ministry refused to confirm the report.
Jubran is a member of one of the most renowned, respected and pioneering families in the Arab community in Israel. Her father, High Court of Justice Judge Salim Jubran, was the first Arab to ever serve in that capacity in the country, while her brother, Attorney Assad Jubran, was the first flight attendant to work for the national airline El Al and was later appointed first Arab director at the Israeli Electric Company.
Only a handful of non-Jews have been admitted to the Israeli Foreign Service over the years. In 1995, Ali Yahia was appointed Israel's ambassador to Finland, and was the first Israeli-Arab in the Foreign Service. However, Yahia did not go through the Service's training course.
Several Druze and one Bedouin Israelis have also been admitted to the course in the past.
Jubran, a graduate of the Haifa University law faculty, will be one of 30 lucky cadets chosen over more than 2,000 candidates. Like the other cadets, Jubran went through a long line of exams, interviews and a security clearance in order to begin the training.
