NEWS Sergio Minerbi, A Life for Italy and Israel

By Pagine Ebraiche staff

Former Israeli Ambassador Sergio Minerbi passed away at age 89 in Jerusalem last week.

He was a diplomat, an intellectual and a symbol of the Italian community in Israel.

Minerbi was born in Ferrara in 1929. His father was from Ferrara, his mother was Polish. He emigrated to Israel at 18, and after graduating university joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He served as the Israeli envoy to several African countries, as well as to the European Community in Brussels. He taught at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and in Haifa, and authored several papers and books, including a volume on the Eichmann trial.

He was a leading expert on the relations between Israel and the Holy See, and as a Pagine Ebraiche columnist, he commented the visits of Ratzinger and Bergoglio to the Great Synagogue of Rome.