Boaz Moda'i
Boaz Moda'i (also Boaz Modai, ) is an Israeli diplomat. He was Israel's ambassador to Ireland from 2010 to 2015. Biography. Boaz Moda'i is the son of Yitzhak Moda'i, an Israeli politician. His mother, Michal Har'el, was the second Miss Israel, crowned in 1951, later an honorary life president of the Women's International Zionist Organization. Diplomatic career. Modai joined Israel's foreign ministry in 1988. He has served in Israeli embassies in Guatemala, Honduras, Thailand, and London. He served as first counselor of Israel's Embassy to the Holy See. In that role he acted as political  co-ordinator for the visit of Pope John Paul II to Israel in 2000. Before moving to Dublin, he spent six years in the Training Bureau of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem. After becoming ambassador to Ireland, he was joined in his work by his wife, Nurit Tinari-Modai (Nurit Tinari Modai), who as of February 2012 serves as Deputy Head of Mission. The embassy won an award for its online hasbara from the Comper Center for the Study of Antisemitism and Racism at University of Haifa. On Dec 31, 2013, the university's website noted: "The  annual appreciation for extraordinary hasbara activity was granted today … to Israel's ambassador to Ireland, Boaz Modai, and his deputy, Nurit Tinari-Modai, by the unique academic program 'Ambassadors Online,' which trains students for pro-Israel hasbara activity online." It lauded them for "activity in the struggle against those who promote the economic-cultural boycott of Israel and against anti-Semitic agents," and credited them with "exposing Israeli culture and the variety of Israel's tourist locations and technological achievements to the residents of Ireland." On 16 October 2019 Moda'i presented his credentials to president Zuzana Čaputová to become ambassador  to Slovakia. Controversy. While he was Head of the Instruction Branch in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Moda'i was investigated by police after a former employee complained of receiving harassing phone calls from an unidentified number. Police traced the phone number to Moda'i, who said the woman had spread rumors that he was having an affair. The Jerusalem police issued a restraining order and recommended that Moda'i be prosecuted. The Moda'i couple was accused of inappropriate social media postings. Modai complained to the Office of the Press Ombudsman against "The Irish Times", claiming its coverage of Israel violated principles  of press code of conduct.