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Uri Lubrani

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Uri Lubrani
אורי לוברני
Born
Uriel Lubrani

(1926-10-07)October 7, 1926
Haifa, Mandatory Palestine
DiedMarch 5, 2018(2018-03-05) (aged 91)
Tel Aviv, Israel
Resting place
Kiryat Shaul Cemetery, Tel Aviv
Education
OccupationsDiplomat, military official, and national security advisor
Years active1950–2018
Known forNegotiated and coordinated Operation Solomon; negotiated prisoner exchanges with Hezbollah; coordinator of Israeli strategy and activities in Lebanon
TitleIsraeli Ambassador to Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and the Imperial State of Iran.
ChildrenOsnat Lubrani (daughter)

Uriel Lubrani (Hebrew: אורי לוברני; October 7, 1926 – March 5, 2018) was an Israeli diplomat, military official, and national security advisor whose six-decade career influenced Israel's foreign policy and defense in East Africa and the Middle East.

Born in Haifa in Palestine, in the 1940s he was a member of the Haganah, the Palmach, and the IDF. In 1964, he joined the diplomatic corps of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. He was appointed Israeli ambassador to Uganda and non-resident ambassador to Burundi and Rwanda, serving until 1967. From 1967 to 1971, he was ambassador to Ethiopia. From 1973 to 1978, he was ambassador to the Imperial State of Iran

From 1983 to 2000, Lubrani was the coordinator of the government strategy and the activities of Israeli forces in Lebanon. Concurrently, in 1990, Lubrani was designated chief diplomatic coordinator in Ethiopia, where he negotiated and coordinated Operation Solomon, the 1991 airlift that evacuated over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel within 36 hours. Lubrani negotiated prisoner exchanges with Hezbollah and other regional actors holding Western and Israeli hostages. and in 1992 entered into peace negotiations with Lebanese counter-parties. After the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000, he continued to serve the Israeli government until 2015 on Lebanese and Iranian affairs, and on regional security.

Early life

Uriel "Uri" Lubrani was born on October 7, 1926, in Haifa, within what was then British Mandate Palestine.[1][2] He was the only son of Aaron and Rose Lubrani.[2][3] His father worked as a veterinarian and managed a local children's theater company.[3] He attended the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa.[4][5]

The Haganah, Palmach, and the IDF

In 1944, at the age of 18, he joined the Haganah.[6][4] He subsequently served within its specialized elite fighting strike force, the Palmach.[5][7] During this period, he assisted in Aliyah Bet maritime operations to smuggle illegal Jewish refugee and Holocaust survivors immigrants into Palestine past the British blockade.[3][8] The Haganah dispatched Lubrani to southern France in 1946, where he was tasked with commanding a clandestine training camp for foreign volunteers from English-speaking countries who were willing to deploy and fight for the Jewish cause.[4]

He returned to the region with one such group to fight in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[2][9] In the war of independence, he used his language skills and regional knowledge as an intelligence officer assigned to both the 7th Armored Brigade and the Yiftach Brigade of the newly formed Israel Defense Forces.[2][10]

Diplomatic career

Early years

After the 1948 war ended, Lubrani joined the Middle East Department of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and in 1950 was appointed secretary and bureau head for Foreign Minister Moshe Sharet.[2] Between 1953 and 1956, he studied at London University, and earned a BA.[11]

After returning to Israel in 1956, he was appointed Deputy Adviser on Arab Affairs for Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.[4] In this role, he focused on spearheading infrastructure and economic development within local Arab villages while concurrently recruiting Israeli Druze citizens into military service.[2] He then served as Bureau Manager and Secretary of Policy for Prime Minister Levi Eshkol during the early 1960s.[12]

Africa; Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Ethiopia

In 1964, he joined the diplomatic corps of the Foreign Ministry, and was appointed ambassador to Uganda and non-resident ambassador to Burundi and Rwanda, serving until 1967.[2][4]

From 1967 to 1971, he was ambassador to Ethiopia, managing ties with Emperor Haile Selassie.[13] He then served as managing director of the state-owned Koor Industries Ltd. from 1971 to 1973.[11]

Iran

He served as the Israeli ambassador to Iran from 1973 to 1978, where he accurately predicted the impending fall of Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, though his assessments were largely dismissed by his superiors at the time.[14][15]

From 1979 to 1983, he worked in the private sector.[11]

Lebanon and Ethiopia; Operation Solomon

In 1983, during the South Lebanon conflict between Hezbollah and other Shia Muslim and left-wing guerrillas against Israel and its ally the Catholic primarily Christian South Lebanon Army (SLA), Lubrani was appointed the coordinator of government activities of Israeli forces in Lebanon, a security and diplomatic role he maintained until Israel's withdrawal in 2000.[16][17]

Concurrently, in September 1990, Lubrani was designated as a chief diplomatic coordinator in Ethiopia, where he negotiated the logistical framework for Operation Solomon, the May 1991 airlift that evacuated over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel within 36 hours.[18]

Hezbollah and Lebanon; prisoner exchanges

As part of his regional security portfolio, Lubrani served as the lead negotiator of the Israeli delegation in Geneva, orchestrating highly sensitive back-channel communications arranging prisoner exchanges with Hezbollah and other regional actors holding Western and Israeli hostages.[19][20][21][22] In 1992, in the wake of the Madrid Conference of 1991, he headed the Israeli diplomatic delegation to Washington, D.C. for direct peace negotiations with Lebanese counterparts, where he debated regional security parameters and sought accountability regarding missing Israeli personnel.[23][24][25]

Lebanon

After the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000, he continued to serve until 2015 as the coordinator for government operations in Lebanon and as a senior consultant, focusing on Lebanese affairs and regional security, for the Israeli successive Ministers of Defense and coordinator for government operations in Lebanon, and then for the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, advising on intelligence matters.[11][21][26] In this role, he utilized his extensive regional expertise to advise on ongoing security threats along the northern border and policy toward Hezbollah.[27] At the Ministry of Strategic Affairs he continued to serve as a high-level consultant on regional strategic threats, particularly regarding Iranian geopolitical influence, until his retirement from public service in 2015.[28]

Iran

In December 2017, Lubrani opined that the only way to stop Iran's nuclear program was to overthrow the Iranian regime. He said that diplomatic or military actions would be ineffective, compared to regime change.[29]

Family, and death

His daughter, Osnat Lubrani became the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine in 2018. Prior to her service there, she was the Resident Coordinator for the Pacific. She has held conflict resolution posts with the United Nations in Kosovo and human rights and development positions in Zaire.[30][31]

After a multi-decade career in foreign diplomacy and national security, Lubrani died from natural causes in Tel Aviv on March 5, 2018, at the age of 91, and he is buried at the Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv.[8][32][11]

Lubrani is portrayed in the 2026 Bryan Singer-directed film Monument by Alon Abutbul. He stars alongside Jon Voight as Israeli architect Yaakov Rechter, Joseph Mazzello as Rechter's son, and Igal Naor as Antoine Lahad.[33][34]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rabinovich, Avraham. "Uri Lubrani, soldier, diplomat, prisoner-exchange negotiator, dead at 91". The Jerusalem Post.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Uri Lubrani" (PDF). University of Haifa. 27 May 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Uri Lubrani, veteran Israeli diplomat and security adviser". The Daily Telegraph. March 13, 2018.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Parsi, Trita (2007). Treacherous alliance: the secret dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States. Yale University Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-0-300-12057-8.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Aderet, Ofer. "Uri Lubrani, Iconic Israeli Diplomat, Dies at 92". Haaretz.
  6. ↑ Rosenberg, David. "Uri Lubrani, former Israeli ambassador to Iran, dead at 91". Israel National News.
  7. ↑ "דף הבית". Archived from the original on 2017-10-07. Retrieved 2017-10-07.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Uri Lubrani, who served under Ben Gurion, dies at 91". The Times of Israel.
  9. ↑ Rosenberg, David. "Uri Lubrani, former Israeli ambassador to Iran, dead at 91". Israel National News.
  10. ↑ Rabinovich, Avraham. "Uri Lubrani, soldier, diplomat, prisoner-exchange negotiator, dead at 91". The Jerusalem Post.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 "URI LUBRANI, SOLDIER, DIPLOMAT, PRISONER-EXCHANGE NEGOTIATOR, DEAD AT 91". Jerusalem Post. March 5, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  12. ↑ Kollek, Teddy (2008). Itamar Rabinovich (ed.). Israel in the Middle East: documents and readings on society, politics, and foreign relations, pre-1948 to the present. UPNE. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-87451-962-4.
  13. ↑ Alexander, Zvi (2004). Oil: Israel's covert efforts to secure oil supplies. Gefen Publishing House. p. 73. ISBN 978-965-229-317-6.
  14. ↑ Milani, Abbas (2000). The Persian sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the riddle of the Iranian Revolution: a biography. I.B. Tauris. p. 302. ISBN 978-1-85043-328-6.
  15. ↑ "Uri Lubrani, former Israeli ambassador to Iran, dead at 91". Israel National News. March 5, 2018.
  16. ↑ "U.N. Chief Talks to Israelis, Iran : Hostages: 'It would be naive ...'". Los Angeles Times. August 15, 1991.
  17. ↑ Sherry, Virginia N. (1999). Persona non grata: the expulsion of Lebanese civilians from Israeli-occupied Lebanon. Human Rights Watch. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-1-56432-237-1.
  18. ↑ Arbel, Andrea S. (2001). Riding the wave: the Jewish Agency's role in the mass aliyah of Soviet and Ethiopian Jewry to Israel, 1987-1995. Gefen Publishing House. p. 142. ISBN 978-965-229-268-1.
  19. ↑ "World Israelis 'wary' of hostage timetable". Steamboat Pilot. Associated Press. August 19, 1991.
  20. ↑ Pérez de Cuéllar, Javier (1997). Pilgrimage for peace: a Secretary-General's memoir. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-312-16486-7.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Cashman, Greer Fay (March 5, 2018). "Uri Lubrani, soldier, diplomat, prisoner-exchange negotiator, dead at 91". The Jerusalem Post.
  22. ↑ "Operation Solomon: Thirty years since the rescue of the Jews of Ethiopia". The Jerusalem Post. May 20, 2021.
  23. ↑ Massalha, Omar (1994). Towards the long-promised peace. Saqi Books. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-86356-065-1.
  24. ↑ Balman Jr., Sid (September 22, 1992). "Lebanese have information Israeli officer alive". United Press International.
  25. ↑ Goshko, John M. (November 10, 1992). "Israel Warns Lebanon, Syria as Mideast Talks Resume". The Washington Post.
  26. ↑ Shelah, Ofer; Limor, Yoav (2007). Captives in Lebanon: The Truth about the Second Lebanon War. Yedioth Ahronoth. pp. 45–48.
  27. ↑ The Quiet Decade: The Israeli-Hezbollah Border 2006–2016 (PDF) (Report). Institute for National Security Studies. 2017.
  28. ↑ Eichner, Itamar (March 5, 2018). "Uri Lubrani, iconic diplomat and security figure, passes away at 91". Ynetnews.
  29. ↑ Katz, Yaakov (December 29, 2017). "EICHMANN MOSSAD CAPTURER: ONLY WAY TO STOP IRAN IS TO OVERTHROW REGIME". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
  30. ↑ Israel, David (27 February 2022). "Israeli UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine: We Are Committed to Staying and Delivering". The Jewish Press. Brooklyn, New York. Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  31. ↑ Cashman, Greer Fay (1 March 2022). "Grapevine March 2, 2022: Tel Aviv Lights Up in Blue and Yellow". The Jerusalem Post. Jerusalem. Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  32. ↑ "Умер советник министров обороны Ури Лубрани" (in русский). 5 March 2018. Archived from the original on 5 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  33. ↑ "Israeli architects honor Lebanese soldiers in new feature film 'Monument' | The Jerusalem Post". The Jerusalem Post. 2026-03-22.
  34. ↑ Schleier, Curt (March 19, 2026). "A monument to what?". Jewish Standard.
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