Sarah Weiss Maudi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sarah Weiss Maudi (born 1975), also known as Sarah Weiss Ma'udi,[1] is an international lawyer, diplomat, educator, and advocate. She was the Legal Advisor of Israel’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.[2] Weiss Maudi founded the Israel MFA Women in Diplomacy Network in 2012[3][4] and is on its board.[5]
Weiss Maudi is a graduate of the Ida Crown Jewish Academy,[6] University of Pennsylvania(B.A. in Political Science and Arabic and Islamic Studies, summa cum laude), Harvard(M.A. in Regional Studies of the Middle East), and New York University School of Law (J.D.). She is a member of both the New York State Bar Association and the Israel Bar Association.[7][8]
Early legal Career
Following her clerkship, Weiss Maudi was an associate lawyer for the Tel Aviv-based corporate firm, GKH,[9] with a specialty specializing in international contract law.[10] She also taught public international law at the Ono Academic College in Israel. Weiss Maudi served as a comparative legal research clerk for the Hon. Justice Dorit Beinisch at the Supreme Court of Israel.[11]
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In 2007, Weiss Maudi joined the Israel Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There she has served as the Deputy Director of the International Law Department (2012-13), and the Director of the International Law Department (2013-2018).[12] At the Foreign Ministry, Maudi was the expert on maritime and humanitarian law.[13]
Weiss Maudi negotiated Israel's first maritime border in Mediterranean Sea with the Republic of Cyprus (2010; entry into force 2011),[14] and subsequently served as chief negotiator for Israel in negotiations with Cyprus on transboundary energy reserves (2011-2018). Weiss Ma'udi also negotiated Israel's regional maritime disputes and related transboundary-energy matters with Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. [15] Weiss Maudi drafted and negotiated several technical agreements on bilateral water-related issues with Jordanian Government and Palestinian Authority, including the Red Sea-Dead Sea Phase I Regional Desalination Project with Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (2015),[16][17] and served on the Israeli negotiating team in US-sponsored proximity talks with Palestinian Authority on water issues.
United Nations
From 2018-2022 Weiss Maudi served as the Legal Adviser and Counterterrorism and Sanctions Expert to the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations in New York.[18] During her tenure as Israel's Legal Adviser at the U.N. she In October 2020, Maudi was appointed in 2020 as the UN Legal Committee’s Vice Chair of the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the 75th General Assembly. She represented the Western Europe and Others Group (WEOG). She was the first Israeli to be appointed to that position in 20 years, and the first Israeli woman to fill that role.[19][20]
For the 77th Session of the United Nations (Sept. 2022- Sept. 2023), Adv. Weiss Maudi was appointed by the General Assembly President, Amb. Csaba Kőrösi, as a Senior Adviser and Deputy Team Leader of the Legal, Budget and Reform Team in his Cabinet, the first Israeli ever to be selected for such a position.[21]