The Protocol and Official Guests Bureau

The Protocol and Official Guests Bureau is composed of four departments: Protocol, Official Guests, Language Services and Management and Budget.

The Chief of Protocol is the Head of the Bureau. In accordance with the Government Decision of January 16, 1983, he is responsible for the following:

a. The Chief of Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also the Chief of Protocol in regard to the foreign relations of the State of Israel.

b. The Chief of Protocol will be selected from a number of permanent workers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who are eligible to serve in the position of ambassador. He is subject to the authority of the foreign minister, and will be guided by the Ministerial Committee on Ceremonies and Symbols in regard to state ceremonies resulting from the decisions of the government and the Ministerial Committee on Ceremonies and Symbols.

c. The functions of the Chief of Protocol:

1. He is responsible for the organization and coordination of official ceremonies relating to dignitaries from other countries, such as heads of state, prime ministers, foreign ministers and other ministers (in accordance with the circumstances).  The above applies both to visits in Israel and to official visits abroad by the state president, prime minister and foreign minister;
2. He provides advice to government ministries and other governmental institutions in regard to ceremonial matters;
3. In carrying out these functions, the Chief of Protocol will act in coordination with the relevant offices and ministries. The Chief of Protocol will be assisted by the “Permanent Committee” which he or she heads, regarding the implementation and operation of events and ceremonies, based upon governmental procedures, in this regard;
4. In the diplomatic realm, the Chief of Protocol is responsible for the direct ties with the diplomatic and consular staff and heads of missions as well as the special missions of the international organizations. The Chief of Protocol attends to their well-being in Israel, and establishes coordination on matters relating to the functions of the diplomatic staff, their welfare, their special privileges and immunities - on a mutual basis. He welcomes incoming ambassadors, presents them with briefings, organizes the ceremony for the presentation of their credentials to the President of Israel and receives ambassadors on the termination of their tour of duty in Israel;
5. The Chief of Protocol is responsible for the publication of the diplomatic list and the issue of special documents for the diplomatic, consular and administrative staff of the overseas missions and the international organizations;
6. The Chief of Protocol deals with every matter relating to the diplomatic staff, even if it not specified in this decision.

1. The Protocol Department 

The Protocol Department handles ongoing contacts with the diplomatic community in Israel, in accordance with the Vienna Convention. The contacts commence from the moment the diplomat arrives in Israel, and they end when the diplomat leaves the country. The Protocol Department is responsible for registering the details of the diplomats and their families, issuing the various licenses, resolving problems vis-à-vis the customs authorities, accrediting ambassadors and military attaches and overseeing the provision of security for the missions and the ambassador's residence, through coordination with the local authorities and the Israel Police.  

The department is also responsible for organizing official ceremonies. It organizes the ceremony in which the ambassadors present their credentials to the President of the State of Israel, as well as receptions for the diplomatic corps. The department also organizes ceremonies which are held in the President's Residence or Prime Minister's Office on the occasion of state visits by heads of state and official visits by prime ministers. It is responsible for organizing ceremonies at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, on the occasion of a state visit abroad by the president or the prime minister.  

The Protocol Department is involved with the Official Guests Department in the organization of visits to Israel by high-level official guests. It accompanies these guests, and handles the various ceremonial aspects of visits.  

In addition, the Protocol Department is responsible for various matters, among them, overseeing the appointment of honorary consuls in Israel, the preparation of the letters of accreditation of Israeli ambassadors who are appointed to positions abroad, briefings to Foreign Ministry employees on the importance of the ceremonial aspects of the diplomat's work, briefings for foreign ambassadors in Israel and the organization of meetings and tours around the country for foreign diplomats. In addition, the Protocol Department provides assistance on ceremonial issues to government institutions, municipalities and other bodies.

2. The Official Guests Department 

The department is responsible for attending to the hundreds of official guests who visit Israel each year (in 2004, it handled 437 such visits). The guests include mainly heads of state, prime ministers, foreign ministers, speakers of parliament, ministers, members of parliament, journalists, clergy and academics. The department attends to guests of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and those of other government ministries. It also attends to guests of the president, the prime minister and the speaker of the Knesset.  

The Official Guests Department is sub-divided on a geographical basis (United States, Western Europe, Eurasia, Africa, Asia and Pacific and Latin America). It is responsible for preparing and coordinating the visiting programme of the official guest, and each geographical section has a programme organizer. The visit is handled in coordination with the various government ministries and institutions, as well as through the relevant political departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Official Guests Department is responsible for organizing meetings between the official guest and the political leaders in Israel.  It also organizes official visits to places such as the Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority and the Western Wall, and deals with the logistical side of the visit, such as the reservation of hotel rooms, organization of transport and arrangements at the airport.  

The Official Guests Department handles both visits of individual official guests and visits by large delegations, as was the case on the occasion of the inauguration of the new Yad Vashem Museum during March 2005, when 41 delegations attended the event.

3.  The Language Services Department  

The department provides writing, translation, and editing services for all the departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The department is responsible, among other things, for drafting official letters, translating speeches (including those of the minister of foreign affairs), drafting statements and communiqués and preparing various official documents, including note verbales.

4. The Management and Budget Department 

The department is responsible for the logistical aspects of visits by official guests of the State of Israel and the work of the Protocol and Official Guests Bureau. The department prepares budgetary proposals, prepares documents in coordination with the relevant hotels, orders vehicles, implements payments, monitors the budgetary frameworks and works to ensure that the frameworks are adhered to. In addition, the department oversees the repayment of VAT to foreign diplomats serving in Israel.