Lebanese-Born Christian Jonathan Elkhoury Begins Israeli Foreign Ministry Diplomatic Cadet Training

Jonathan Elkhoury announced in early November on his social media accounts that he had begun a diplomatic cadet training program in the political track, a step that could lead to joining Israel’s Foreign Ministry. He described the move as an extension of his family’s history and ties with Israel rather than simply a career move into a government institution, a way of handing a family’s story to the next generation (Psalm 78:4).

According to Israeli media, Elkhoury enrolled in the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic training program and became the first person from a South Lebanon Army (SLA) family to join it. In a post, he wrote that joining the program was “a direct continuation of the alliance his parents forged with the State of Israel during the 1970s and 1980s,” referring to the establishment of the SLA and its relationship with Israel. He said that relationship was founded on a shared goal of peace and good neighborly relations, was now being passed to a new generation, and that his destiny and Israel’s were one. In the same post, he said the course that began that week admitted 36 cadets from about 2,000 candidates, 26 in the political track and 10 in the administrative track of the foreign service.

Elkhoury was born in 1992 in southern Lebanon to a Catholic mother and an Orthodox father who was a member of the SLA, a Lebanese force that cooperated with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) during Israel’s presence in southern Lebanon. According to accounts he gave in a previous media interview, his father left Lebanon in May 2000, coinciding with Israel’s withdrawal and the collapse of the SLA, while the rest of the family remained in Lebanon for some time. In 2001, Elkhoury, then nine years old, moved with his mother and brother to Israel via Cyprus, where the family reunited with his father after a period of separation.

The family’s relocation was part of a broader wave of thousands of people affiliated with the SLA and their families, who left southern Lebanon after the Israeli withdrawal for fear of persecution or retaliation over their cooperation with Israel. The family settled in Haifa, where Elkhoury faced the challenges of adapting to a new society, particularly its language and schools. In a 2014 television interview, he said he arrived in Israel without knowing Hebrew, learned the language within a few months, and enrolled in an Israeli school. After completing high school, he chose national service rather than military service in the IDF, and he worked for two years at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. Media interviews about his background report that he later received recognition from Israel’s Health Ministry for his work during that period.

His involvement in politics did not begin with the Foreign Ministry program. According to a 2024 report by The Times of Israel, Elkhoury is one of the most prominent non-Jewish voices defending Israel at international forums. He began working regularly in this field in 2017, drawing on his background as a Lebanese Christian who grew up in Israel. His activities have included university meetings and seminars in the United States. Through the DiploAct organization, he visited eight academic institutions on the US East Coast, including Harvard University, New York University, Brandeis University, and the University of Pennsylvania, as part of efforts to counter criticism of Israel on campuses.

He has also been associated with initiatives aimed at strengthening the presence of Christian citizens and other non-Jewish communities in Israeli society. He previously served as a spokesperson for the Christian Empowerment Council (CEC) and helped establish and coordinate the “Minorities” project, which seeks to highlight these communities’ experiences and perspectives on life in Israel. He has also worked with pro-Israel media and advocacy initiatives, including Reservists on Duty, which campaigns against boycott movements and criticism of Israeli policies at Western universities.

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