Israel’s Consul General Praised for Grit, Grace in Face of Unprecedented Challenges

Over six years in Atlanta, Israeli Consul General Anat Sultan-Dadon has exhibited a rare blend of down-to-earth charm and hard-nosed truth-telling, providing the Southeast U.S. with a master class on diplomacy during a tenure that included both calm and chaos.

That was the consensus from leaders from across the Jewish community and beyond, who gathered Wednesday at The Temple on Peachtree Street to celebrate the diplomat’s work in the Southeast U.S. ahead of her July departure. 

In her own closing remarks, Ms. Sultan-Dadon chose to reflect mostly on her “personal team”: a supportive husband and three daughters who enable and encourage her arduous work on behalf of Israel. 

But she also acknowledged how much things had changed for her country since she first spoke among strangers at The Temple, just after taking up a post spanning seven states of Israel’s most important ally. 

“Today, it feels like a lifetime ago. I was standing then in front of yet-unfamiliar faces. In many ways, it was a completely different world, personally and collectively. Today, I am here in the presence of now very familiar faces, so many friends, partners and loved ones. My heart is full, with an extended family that has grown more than I could have imagined,” Ms. Sultan-Dadon said. 

Since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks of 2023 and throughout the ensuing war in Gaza, the consul general relentlessly called for the release of Israeli hostages, appearing on countless news programs and radio shows urging the world to #BringThemHome. 

To this day, Hamas still holds some 56 hostages (with 33 presumed dead) using them as bargaining chips in negotiations over the conflict; a ceasefire in January broke down in March, with Israel continuing to push into the strip. 

Under Ms. Sultan-Dadon’s leadership, the consulate early on screened footage from the atrocities captured by Hamas’ own militants, enabling the world to see the wanton brutality with which they carried out their attacks.

She also received relatives of hostages traveling to Atlanta and other cities across the South, amplifying their stories of loss and hardship.  

Along the way, she has also been forced to speak out against a rising tide of anti-semitism that has manifested through violent attacks on Jews and Israelis across the U.S. 

Earlier this month, an engaged couple who worked for the Israeli embassy were gunned down outside an event in May, and in Boulder, Colo., an assailant reportedly shouting “Free Palestine” used a makeshift torch and Molotov cocktails to burn Jewish peace marchers. Eight were injured.

The Temple’s Senior Rabbi Peter Berg, the evening’s first speaker, addressed the latter attack, saying the global Jewish community would continue to speak and stand against anti-semitism, fighting the flames of hatred with the fires of holiness and love, all while demanding answers. 

“To the survivors, you are not alone. To our children, your future will not be written by those who hurl bombs, but by those who build bridges and to the world,” the rabbi said. 

Later speakers pointed to Ms. Sultan-Dadon’s record as a consummate bridge-builder. 

“Since the moment she arrived in Atlanta, Anat has embodied the best of what Israeli diplomacy can be: principled, courageous, compassionate and clear-eyed. She has represented the State of Israel and the Jewish people with unwavering strength and dignity, not just in formal settings, but in countless quiet moments of connection, education and solidarity,” said David Zalik, former CEO of recently acquired fintech unicorn GreenSky, who chaired the tribute event. 

Mr. Zalik noted that she had become a “moral compass” for many, fostering relationships across an array faiths, cultures and political persuasions in a diverse region of the country. 

Linda Selig, who has worked with the consul general as founder of the White Rose Society, said the consul general embodied diplomacy at one of the most difficult moments in the 77-year history of the state of Israel. 

“She has shown us all that diplomacy isn’t just about policy, it’s also about people, because in the end, relationships between nations begin with relationships between individuals, and Anat built those relationships, one smile, one conversation, one meaningful moment at a time.”

The in-person speeches were supplemented by an array of video messages from legislators and elected officials, civic leaders and public figures including actress Patricia Heaton, who formed O7C, or the Oct. 7 Coalition, a Christian group founded in the aftermath of the attacks to support the Jewish community, with Ms. Sultan-Dadon’s support. 

Almost without fail, the speakers referred to the consul general not just as a colleague, but as a friend. 

State Rep. Esther Panitch (D-Sandy Springs), the only Jewish member of the Georgia House of Representatives, said it wasn’t goodbye, given that she would see Ms. Sultan-Dadon this October in Jerusalem.

“I know you’re going to be the foreign minister soon enough,” Ms. Panitch quipped in her video message, “and then we’ll take lots of delegations over just to come to visit you.” 

Evident in remarks and the photo slideshows was Ms. Sultan-Dadon’s commitment to getting outside of Atlanta, from launching legislative caucuses in Mississippi and Alabama to meeting with Jewish organizations in Kentucky and visiting governors in places like South Carolina and Georgia. 

She even accompanied Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to Israel on an economic mission in May 2023. 

“We will always be grateful for the time we spent in Israel with Anat,” Mr. Kemp said in a recorded message, joined by First Lady Marty Kemp, who also went on the trip. 

While the diplomat may get the glory, Ms. Sultan-Dadon said, unsung heroes like her consular colleagues, whom she acknowledged, and her family deserve much of the credit for her accomplishments. 

“Over the past six years, I’ve traveled in our region, attended events, hosted delegations, and taken part in so much of what this incredible community has done. You’ve all seen me at these events, but what you did not see are the ones who are my secret power, my source of strength: my family,” she said. 

Despite being from a diplomatic family, with a father who served as Israel’s ambassador to Egypt, Ms. Sultan-Dadon credits her husband Yaron with urging her to pursue the path, bringing home a newspaper ad seeking applicants to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cadet corps. 

“My childhood was spent not only in Israel, but also in the Netherlands, Kenya, Egypt and Italy. I was fascinated and admired my father’s work, but I was also realistic. I knew that diplomacy is a career that I would never pursue because I wanted a family of my own, and husbands who follow their wife’s career around the world are not a common thing.” 

They made the decision together, she said, “just like all decisions since then,” she said, and have been married for 27 years, hyphenating their names. Her father, meanwhile, became her diplomatic mentor. 

But her greatest teacher, she said, has been her daughter, Niv, who at 14 has shown untold perseverance in the face of a genetic syndrome. Showing her own brand of grit, Niv has learned sit, stand, walk and chew on her own, defying doctors’ expectations with her “extraordinary spirit.” 

“Niv has taught us about bravery, about resilience, about innocence, about pure and simple joy, about unconditional love. We have never heard her sweet voice call us mom and dad, but we have learned from her love that is beyond words.” 

These lessons have infused her work as a diplomat with Jewish values like kindness and compassion, she said. 

“Every daily need is a reminder of the need to give, to support, to see those in need around us. In so many ways, Niv has made me not only a better person, but a better diplomat, a better representative for Israel,” she said.

The consul general elected not to say goodbye to the audience, instead welcoming them to visit in Jerusalem. 

“It is your home as well.”