Einat Schlein made history this week when she (along with a number of envoys from other nations) presented her credentials Monday (Sept. 7) to King Abdullah II in Amman as Israel’s Ambassador to Jordan.
Schlein headed the international division of the foreign ministry’s diplomatic research center and is considered an expert in Middle East affairs.
She has been with the foreign ministry for 22 years, and began her career with a posting in Amman, followed by a stint at the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C.
Schlein, who was appointed to the post in September 2014, is the first woman ever to serve as an Israeli ambassador to an Arab nation.
Israel has increased its female diplomatic corps in general. Out of 12 new Israeli ambassadorial appointments this year, seven women were posted to France, Romania, Bulgaria, Belgium, Cyprus and China.
Sclein is not, however, the first woman to actually serve in the function of an Israeli “envoy” to Jordan. The late prime minister Golda Meir was known to have made several secret trips to the Hashemite Kingdom for highly classified discussions with the great-grandfather of the current monarch.
Schlein was also not the only woman to present her credentials in Amman: Birgitta Siefker-Eberle from Germany was also present to do the same, along with a number of men from various countries.