Israel’s first Christian ambassador, George Deek, has a new job after his return to Israel from his most recent posting as Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan: special envoy to the Christian world.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar named Deek to the role on Thursday, with the ministry saying that the move was “intended to deepen Israel’s ties with Christian communities around the world.”

Deek, who joined the Foreign Ministry in 2008 and has been posted to Norway and Nigeria, received the Foreign Ministry Director General’s Award for Excellence in 2021. He is part of the Arab Orthodox Christian community in Jaffa, and his father, Youssef Deek, was chairman of the community for many years.

Deek came to international prominence as Israel’s chargé d’affaires in Oslo after giving a speech about his family’s background and his decision to represent Israel around the world. In the speech, video of which has gone viral, he spoke about his grandparents’ departure from Jaffa during Israel’s War of Independence and choice to return and build their lives in the fledgling Jewish state.

Sa’ar said that “the State of Israel attaches great importance to its relations with the Christian world and with its Christian friends around the world. I am confident that George, a respected and experienced diplomat, will greatly contribute to the friendship and strengthening of the ties between the State of Israel and the Christian world.”

Deek’s appointment was announced soon after several controversies in Israel relating to Christians. Most recently, an IDF soldier who broke a statue of Jesus in a southern Lebanese Christian town was removed from combat duty and given 30 days in prison.

On Palm Sunday, with the war in Iran still raging, police officers barred Cardinal Pierbatista Pizzaballa from accessing the Church of the Holy Sepulcher because it did not have proper protection from missiles. After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intervened, Pizzaballa was given more access to the church.