From her childhood in a farming village in northern Israel to postings in the United States, India and now Manila, Kursh has learned that the work calls for more than knowledge and resilience. It requires humility, curiosity and a willingness to connect with people as herself.
From a village to the world
Kursh grew up in Moshav Merhavia, a farming community near Nazareth. As a teenager, she became interested in diplomacy but doubted whether someone with her background could enter the profession.
“I was born and raised in a small village in the north of Israel, 10 minutes from Nazareth. When I became more mature, like at 16 or 17, I started thinking, what do I want to do? I fell in love with learning about diplomacy. But I was sure I would never get in, because I thought it’s either you have to be extremely smart or have some connections. I had neither,” she told The Sunday Times Magazine in a one-on-one interview at the ambassador’s official residence.
Her outlook changed during her second year studying international relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Listening to Colette Avital, one of Israel’s pioneering diplomats, discuss her career gave Kursh the resolve to pursue her own.
“At that time, I was still young, and I did not know if I had the intelligence or the connections to enter the diplomatic service. But listening to her talk about her work made me realize that this was something I truly wanted to pursue,” she added.
That resolve led her to pursue a place in the diplomatic service, where, when she applied, only 20 candidates were chosen from 2,000 applicants. Kursh officially joined Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January 2001, beginning a career that has taken her on three postings around the world to date.
Her first overseas assignment, in Houston, Texas, introduced her to the responsibilities of diplomacy in times of crisis. During her posting, the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster claimed the life of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. She recalled helping support his family and shielding them from intrusive media attention. Hurricane Katrina followed in 2005, bringing further lessons in assisting people through tragedy.
“I think that experience built my resilience and deepened my understanding of the challenges people face when natural disasters strike. It also helped me understand the role of diplomats in times of crisis. Our responsibility is not only to represent our country but also to look after our citizens, make sure they receive the assistance they need and find ways to help the nation and the people affected,” she said.
Kursh later spent five years in India, first as deputy ambassador in New Delhi and then as consul general in Bangalore, a major technology hub.
She also held various positions at the Foreign Ministry headquarters in Jerusalem, including policy adviser to the director general and head of the Agricultural Internship Administration, a program in which the Philippines has historically been a major participant.
From August 2022 until her deployment to Manila in August 2025, she likewise headed the ministry’s Bureau of Training, serving as dean of its Diplomatic Academy. There, she helped recruit and prepare diplomats while championing the use of artificial intelligence in their work.
Across these assignments, she learned that experience does not always mean having all the answers.
“I think one of the things I learned is to not take things for granted and not think I know things. After half a year in a position, you feel that you know it all. ‘Ah, I read the politics, I read history, I know.’ But then, the more you stay in a place, the more you reveal how much you don’t know. So you have to stay modest for that,” she said.
That openness matters in a profession that requires Kursh to take on several roles, sometimes within the same day.
“You are like a lawyer representing your nation. You are being interviewed, so you are a spokesperson. You are negotiating, whether it’s treaty or business things. You are a businessman or businesswoman trying to promote business between Israel and the Philippines. You are doing international cultural diplomacy. You are exporting Israeli arts and culture. You are doing interfaith dialogue,” she enumerated.
The variety is what makes the work meaningful for Kursh despite its difficulties.
“You are not doing something for the salary; you are doing something for the heart, something that you are passionate about. There are complicated things — it’s not perfect, but it is something very meaningful,” she said.
The ambassador said her understanding of diplomacy began when she was a young trainee attending a reception in Istanbul.
“I remember that I smiled all the time, but I only mingled with my batch [of trainees]. Towards the end, I said to myself, enough is enough, Dana. You have to go out there. You have to interact with other people. And at the end of that day, I said, oh, I made the first step,” she recalled.
The experience taught her the importance of reaching beyond familiar circles — a lesson she would later bring to her work preparing future diplomats.
As dean of the Diplomatic Academy, she looked for qualities beyond academic achievement. Intelligence mattered, but so did emotional awareness, language skills, cultural understanding and the ability to withstand adversity. For Kursh, these human qualities remain essential even as technology makes knowledge more accessible.
“With AI, you can learn almost anything in a matter of seconds. But diplomacy is not just about having information or knowing the right answers. You also need to know how to connect with people, understand where they are coming from and build relationships. Technology can help us gain knowledge, but the human connection remains essential,” she noted.
She also believes diplomats must learn how to enter unfamiliar situations without imposing their own customs on others. She recalled attending a Filipino wake shortly after arriving in the country and encountering an open coffin for the first time.
“In Israel we bury our dead immediately. So that was very hard but very powerful. I said a prayer in Hebrew,” she shared.
As unfamiliar as the practice was to her, she recognized in it a shared desire to comfort the bereaved.
“You have to learn the culture. You have to understand. In Judaism, we mourn the dead for seven days. In a similar way [here in the Philippines], the wake enabled people to come and and embrace the bereaved family,” she continued.
For Kursh, the experience demonstrated how different traditions can serve similar human needs. She said understanding those differences requires curiosity and adaptability.
The woman behind the title
Remaining authentic is another challenge Kursh has encountered in her career. It is something she hopes to preserve, even when her approach differs from what people expect of a diplomat.
She once took offense when people told her she did not seem like one. She initially interpreted the observation as criticism but eventually understood that people were responding to her willingness to engage with them personally.
“What they meant is that they felt a person. It wasn’t just someone who gave the messages of the government. It was a person interacting with them and making them think,” she said.
She is also conscious of how public recognition can affect a diplomat’s sense of self.
“People can easily go, ‘Oh, they have standing ovations. It’s for me. It’s for Dana.’ But you need to remember that it’s not for Dana. You are a vessel, and they are standing and clapping for the ambassador of the State of Israel. I’m just a vessel, a messenger,” she said.
As a woman in diplomacy, she has also encountered assumptions about who holds authority. She recalled instances when people addressed her male deputy as the ambassador or mistook her for a diplomat’s wife.
When asked whether being a woman has made her profession more challenging, she replied, “Most of the time, no, [but there are] different cultures, different countries. And there is chauvinism still back home in Israel and other places.”
She next reflected on the pressure women feel to appear strong and composed, even during emotionally difficult moments.
After becoming tearful while speaking during an Oct. 7 commemoration, she questioned whether showing emotion might make others doubt her professionalism.
“Why did I cry? I cannot be a professional woman and cry because women crying, people will say, you know, hysteria is from history, the womb, all of those stereotypes about women and crying,” she recalled thinking.
But friends at the embassy reminded her that her tears reflected her humanity rather than a failure of leadership.
“I think that every person, men and women alike, have special traits that they were given. And we should stay attentive to those,” she said.
That desire to remain true to herself extends to family life. Kursh is raising her 14-year-old son while managing the responsibilities of representing Israel abroad. She values the chance for him to grow up among different cultures but acknowledges how hard it is to balance work and parenting.
She hopes her son will always feel that she is present when he needs her, despite her demanding schedule.
“I hope that at the end of the day, when he sits on the couch, in 20 years from now, he will not say that his mom scarred him too much,” she said with a laugh.
Discovering the Philippines
Kursh first visited the Philippines in October 2015 on an official trip to Manila while serving as Israel’s deputy ambassador to India. She spent a week in the country and brought her young son and mother along, hoping to explore the capital with them.
However, a typhoon disrupted their plans and limited their opportunity to see the city. Although the visit was brief, it became her first memorable encounter with the Philippines.
Returning as ambassador in August 2025 gave her a chance to discover more of the country.
“I think I fall in love more and more every day [with the Philippines]. I know it’s an archipelago with more than 7,000 islands. Gorgeous. But to discover each island and to see how different it is from other places, it’s amazing,” she enthused.
Visits to Ilocos Norte, Davao, Puerto Princesa and Iloilo have since introduced her to regional cuisines, traditions, churches and indigenous communities.
“Every time I go, I become a patriot of the place. Because it’s a different cuisine. It’s a different art. The indigenous tribes are different... the culture. Everything is different,” she said.
Her enthusiasm also extends to Filipino food. She particularly enjoys lumpia prepared in different ways by her Ilocano cook and has grown fond of halo-halo, despite initially questioning why beans were mixed into ice cream.
“I had a problem at the beginning. Why do they put beans in ice cream? But I said, okay, I’m not thinking what I’m eating. I’m just enjoying the taste,” she said, laughing. “And I had it on my birthday when I went to Tagaytay, and I fell in love with halo-halo.”
For Kursh, food offers a way to understand the culture and people of a country.
She also believes Filipinos and Israelis share an appreciation for similar values.
“I think that there are three things that connect us. Faith, family, and food,” she said.
As such, she hopes more Israelis will recognize the compassion and dedication of Filipino workers in Israel, particularly caregivers who develop close relationships with the families they serve.
“Israeli families are fighting to get an OFW caregiver because of their compassion. Because they’re amazing, amazing, amazing! And the Israeli families who have a caregiver know that,” she said, referring to overseas Filipino workers.
At the same time, she wants Filipinos to see Israel beyond its religious significance.
“I would hope that Filipinos will know more than just the Holy Land, more than the Bible perspective. I would hope that many will know more about the fact that it’s a start-up nation land. That it’s a place of innovation,” she said.
A friendship rooted in history
One of the most important historical links between the Philippines and Israel is the Open Door Policy of President Manuel Quezon, which helped more than 1,300 Jewish refugees escape Nazi persecution in Europe and find refuge in the Philippines. The two countries formally established diplomatic relations in 1957.
For Kursh, Quezon’s decision remains an example of moral courage and leadership.
“I saw the [biographical] movie, and I was in awe of this leader who chose to do so despite opposition from within, despite opposition from the Americans. Despite his health situation, he said, I have to do the right thing,” she shared. “And he was able to rescue 1,300 Jewish people.”
She hopes the story will continue to inspire both Filipinos and Israelis to understand how individual decisions can change lives.
Her belief in coexistence also draws on memories closer to home. Growing up near Nazareth, she recalled visiting Jenin, now a Palestinian City, and sometimes staying overnight. There, she said, she was known as Ibnat Musa, or the daughter of Moses, after her father.
Those childhood visits inform her belief that people from different backgrounds can live alongside one another.
Acknowledging the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, she expressed hope for peaceful coexistence.
That emphasis on relationships between people also shapes her hopes for ties between the Philippines and Israel. She believes the two countries can build on their historical friendship through cooperation that extends beyond government agreements to businesses, universities, nongovernmental organizations and ordinary citizens.
A partnership for the future
Since taking office, Kursh has prioritized cooperation in agriculture, water management, cybersecurity, education and health, with an emphasis on exchanging expertise and developing solutions suited to both countries.
“We don’t just want to sell technology here. We want to make a difference for our children, both in Israel and here, through technology exchange and transfer,” she said. “The Philippines has a lot of talented, young, ambitious people. All of them speak very good English. We face similar challenges in cybersecurity and other areas. We need to work together for a better future.”
She then cited agricultural technology, including Israeli solar pumps used in Philippine rice fields, as an example of practical cooperation. She also wants to expand business ties, encourage government officials to visit, and advance discussions on a free trade agreement.
Tourism and people-to-people exchanges are also central to Kursh’s agenda. She hopes a new direct air link between Manila and Tel Aviv will bring more Filipino pilgrims to Israel and Israeli tourists to the Philippines, while making travel easier for families and businesspeople between the two countries.
“We want more pilgrims to come to Israel. We want more Israelis to come. For that, I put direct flights very high on my agenda. And God willing, on Jan. 3, 2027, we will have the first direct flight coming here to Manila from Tel Aviv,” she said.
Israeli carrier Arkia Airline will operate the routes, with service initially scheduled to run once a week.
For the ambassador, a stronger partnership must also bring academic institutions and civil society groups into the conversation. She firmly believes collaboration can help address shared challenges.
“I want our friendship and our partnership that started in the time of Quezon to continue growing,” she said.
She would like business ecosystems to include not just businesspeople, but also the NGO sector and academia. She said they should connect more closely to find innovative solutions to disasters, climate change and other challenges troubling the world.
Alongside these partnerships, she hopes to foster greater understanding through the stories people read. She would like to see more coverage of the Philippines in Israel and of Israel in the Philippines, helping readers get to know both countries better.
These everyday connections are part of what she hopes will endure beyond her posting. For Kursh, the measure of her tenure will rest not solely on agreements signed or officials met, but also on relationships that encourage people to stay open to perspectives different from their own.
“I don’t want to convert them to love Israel. But I want them to really know that we can be friends even if we disagree,” she said.
That willingness to connect without expecting agreement reflects a lesson she has carried from a farming village in northern Israel to her posting in Manila: she does not need to have all the answers. She needs to remain open to learning and understanding the people around her.
It is in that spirit that she hopes people will feel comfortable turning to her to connect with Israel.
“I hope and pray that I will be able to achieve the goal of connecting with people, and that people will see me as someone they can turn to when it comes to Israel — as a matchmaker who brings people together,” she said.
https://www.manilatimes.net/2026/10/18/the-sunday-times/cover-story/israels-ambassador-dana-kursh-on-building-bridges-beyond-diplomacy/2447956
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