Ehud Prawer

Ehud (Udi) Prawer joined the Jerusalem Institute as head of the Society and Populations Team in June 2021, following a long and distinguished career in public service.

Prawer began his public journey in the IDF Education Corps, where he served in a range of positions, including in his final role as deputy chief education officer (with the rank of colonel). Upon conclusion of his military career, Prawer served as the education envoy for the Jewish Agency in North America and as the principal of the Gymnasia Ha’ivrit High School in Jerusalem.

In 2004, he was appointed deputy head of the National Security Council and coordinated its work on national resilience and on Jerusalem. As part of this role, Prawer was among the founders of the Authority for National Civic Service.

In 2006, the unit moved from being under his authority within the National Security Council to being a department within the Prime Minister’s Office, and Prawer was appointed head of policy planning. The department later changed its name, and Prawer was appointed deputy director-general for governance and social affairs in the Prime Minister’s Office. Throughout his 12-year career in the Prime Minister’s Office, he had a sizeable impact on the planning approach of the government, worked to integrate public engagement strategies, developed the assessment frameworks for government activity, coordinated the government’s engagement with Arab citizens of Israel and the Bedouin population, coordinated the government’s work with Israelis of Ethiopian descent, worked on formalizing the working relationships between the government and the third sector, and oversaw the governance aspects of Israel’s process of joining the OECD.

From 2017 to 2018, Prawer served as the acting civil service commissioner.

Following his retirement from the public service, he served as head of the public council of the Zalman Shazar Center and as a senior fellow at MAOZ.

Prawer holds a bachelor’s degree in education and the history of Israel and a master’s degree in education, both from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.  He lives in Mevaseret Zion. He is married to Leah and is a father of three.