The son of Yosif Govrin. Dr. David Govrin has served as an Israeli Diplomat since 1989. He speaks fluent Arabic, and served as the ambassador to Egypt from 2016 to August 2020. Ambassador Govrin served as the First Secretary at the Israeli Em- bassy in Egypt (1994-1997)and as aPolitical Counselor in the Permanent Mission of Israel tothe United Nations. In addition, he has served in a variety of positions in the Israeli Ministry ofForeign Affairs, including that of Head of the Jordanian Depart- ment and Head of Department in the Ministry's Planning Bureau. Ambassador Govrin holds a PhD from the School of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is a research fellow at the Truman Institute. His book, The Journey to The Arab Spring: The Ideological Roots of the Middle East Upheaval in Arab Liberal Thought was published in 2014 by Valentine Mitchel, London and in Hebrew by Magnes in 2016. The Trump adminis- tration brokered the Israel-Morocco normalization agreement last year, mending ties that were cut of following the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000. However, the 2020 deal did not establish full diplomatic relations. The agreement with Morocco came as part of awave of diplomatic agreements between Israel and Arab states, in- cluding the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan. In late June, Lapid made a historic trip to the UAE to open the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai.