Doron Shpilman Appointed as Israel’s First National Public Diplomacy Spokesperson

The Prime Minister’s Office tender committee has appointed Doron Shpilman, 53, as the spokesperson for Israel’s newly established National Public Diplomacy Directorate, a role that did not previously exist. Officially, Shpilman will serve as a senior department head for spokesperson, communication, and public diplomacy within the Prime Minister’s Office, effectively becoming Israel’s international public face.

Shpilman immigrated to Israel from the United States in January 2000 and holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations. He served as a lieutenant colonel in the reserves and was a spokesperson for foreign media in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit during wartime, conducting interviews with numerous international networks. He is also a senior fellow at the Jerusalem-based Center for Liberty and the Argaman Institute.

For nearly two decades, Shpilman was vice president of the Elad Association, which operates the City of David archaeological site, where he guided dozens of leaders and diplomats, including former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. He faced international and political criticism over excavations in the City of David and detailed in his book "Let the Stones Speak" the pressures from the Obama administration in 2014 related to property acquisitions in Silwan. Shpilman emphasized his efforts to present archaeological findings as proof of the Jewish historical connection to Jerusalem and to counter UNESCO resolutions that ignored this link.

After leaving Elad, he founded Spielman Dynamics, a strategic consulting firm specializing in military and security affairs. In response to claims of a rigged tender, the Prime Minister’s Office stated that ten candidates competed, all received attention, and Shpilman was selected by a wide margin due to his extensive international experience.

Additionally, the tender committee recently appointed retired Lt. Col. Noam Shapira as the head of the Public Diplomacy Headquarters, a position vacant for three and a half years, including during the recent war. The appointments come after criticism that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu neglected Israel’s public diplomacy by not filling these key roles. Netanyahu previously appointed Tzipi Hotovely, former ambassador to the UK, as head of the National Public Diplomacy Directorate. The State Comptroller prepared a report on the public diplomacy system’s failures during the October 7 attacks, but it was shelved by Supreme Court order along with other related reports.