Ruth Wasserman Lande

Family, military service and studies

Wassermann Lande was born in Israel after her parents emigrated from their native Lithuania. When she was nine, her family moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where she lived until she completed high school at Herzlia. Her family then moved to Los Angeles when she was 18, while she returned to Israel alone.

Wasserman Lande was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces and completed her compulsory army service, attaining the rank of Captain in the IDF Intelligence Corps where she continues to serve as a reservist. After her army service, Wasserman Lande earned a B.A. in Political Science and Communications from Bar Ilan University, graduating Cum Laude, followed by a M.A. in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, graduating Magna Cum Laude. In addition, she was awarded the Simcha Pratt Prize for excellence for her master’s thesis analyzing the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians within the framework of the Oslo Accords.

Career

In 2001, in parallel with her university studies in Israel, Wasserman Lande was chosen to participate in the prestigious Foreign Ministry training program, after which she was appointed to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ UK and Ireland desk. In January 2003, she was appointed to a diplomatic post at the Israeli embassy in Egypt. There she focused on promoting Israeli-Egyptian political and economic relations, including bilateral trade agreements. In 2006, her final year at the embassy, Wasserman Lande was the de facto deputy chief of mission to Ambassador Shalom Cohen.

Following her diplomatic service in Cairo, Wasserman Lande began studying for a second M.A. in Policy and Government at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. That is, within the framework of the Wexner Fellowship Scholarship. While at Harvard, she founded The Israel Caucus, an organization dedicated to showcasing the diverse facets of Israeli society, which still successfully functions today. In 2007, Wasserman Lande was seconded from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work for two years as adviser to former Israeli President Shimon Peres. Her duties included meeting with senior delegations from around the world and preparing political position papers for the president.

Public activities

In 2010, she completed the preparatory studies for a PhD. in International Relations at Oxford University's St. Anthony's College, returning to Israel to continue her research. Wasserman Lande currently lives in the Israeli city of Lod, where she and her husband, Aviv, are founders of the Lod Community Foundation which was founded in 2008. Working with the foundation, she was instrumental in developing tourism, culture, education and employment in the city.

Wasserman Lande was a guest lecturer at many prestigious universities around the world, in England, Latvia, the US and Israel. She has addressed the British parliament, several senior delegations of US congressmen visiting Israel, and in various Israeli diplomatic, educational and economic circles. In addition, she is a commentator on Egyptian and Middle Eastern affairs on foreign and Israeli television stations, including National Public Radio (NPR), the BBC, Israel’s Channel 1, Channel 2, Channel 10, and Israel Plus. She is fluent in speaking in Hebrew, English, Russian and Arabic.