On Monday, April 16, Ambassador Alon Pinkas, the Counsel General of Israel, will give two talks titled "The Middle East After Israeli Elections: Thoughts on the Past and Prospects for the Future" in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall. The first talk will be delivered in Hebrew, at 5:30 p.m.; the second will be presented in English at 6:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

The ambassador also will meet with students, faculty and Cornell President Hunter Rawlings during his visit.

Pinkas, 39, was appointed head of Israel's New York consulate last year. Prior to this post, he served as the chief-of-staff to Shlomo Ben-Ami and Dawid Levi, former Israeli ministers of foreign affairs. He previously served as foreign policy adviser to former Prime Minister Ehud Baraq and as political advisor to Shimon Peres, Israel's former minister of foreign affairs, and has played an integral role in the Middle East peace process.

Pinkas received a B.A. in political science from Hebrew University in 1986 and earned his master's in American government and politics at Georgetown University in 1988. Before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pinkas wrote in both Hebrew and English for the Jerusalem Post as chief defense correspondent and chief military correspondent and analyst. He also was chief diplomatic correspondent and commentator for Maariv and wrote a column on American politics and international relations for the Davar Daily .

Pinkas' visit is sponsored by the Israeli Student Association and co-sponsored by the departments of Near Eastern Studies and of Government, the Religion Studies Program and the Peace Studies Program, Einaudi Center for International Studies, Student Assembly Finance Committee, International Students and Scholars Office, Undergraduate Admissions Office, Cornell Days, International Living Center, International Students Programming Board, Robert Purcell Community Center, Hillel and the Cornell Israel Public Affairs Committee, among others.