Prof. Yossi (José) Benarroch
Professor Benarroch was born in Lisbon, Portugal. His father, Akiva, comes from Melilla in Spanish Morocco and due to this lineage, he specializes in external and Spanish relations.
During his early life, he studied in Portugal and Spain for his primary education. He also stayed in an English school in Portugal in his high school years but he moved in Geneva, Switzerland to continue his education. Then, he proceeded at Yeshivat “Merkaz Harav” and has finished Bachelor of Laws at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Madrid.
In 1963, he made his Alyah to Israel and has served in Israel's Foreign Service, First Secretary in Rome, Counselor in Mexico and Ambassador to Ethiopia; from 1965 to 1990. It was also within the year 1990 when Prof. Harush founded a system of Spanish magazines written in Israel, which was distributed to the Spanish-speaking world.
He headed the team of the EU-Israel Forum under the auspices of the EU Ambassador to the Middle East, Miguel Moratinos, in the year 2000 for 2 years. In 2002, he worked as the Deputy Vice President for the Department of External Relations at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He then served as the head of the said division, holding responsibility for Latin America, in 2010 up to 2014. From then until 2018, he was a Chairman of the Spanish World Association. With his evident will and commitment, he still serves within the management of the “Ne’emanei Torah ve'Avoda” Movement up to this day for 17 years.
