The Lowdown: Anat Sultan-Dadon

Atlanta is chock full of interesting movers and shakers, some bent on creativity, empire building, activism or just plain having fun and living the good life. Lean in to hear some of the off-the-cuff remarks about what makes Anat Sultan-Dadon, Consul General of Israel to the Southeast, tick.

Sultan-Dadon was born in The Hague in the Netherlands, the youngest daughter of retired Israel Ambassador David Sultan. In addition to the Netherlands, she has lived in Egypt, Kenya, Italy and Israel. She earned her bachelor of arts in psychology and education from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a master of arts in criminology. While there, Sultan-Dadon worked with disabled veterans seeking rehabilitation. She served in the Israeli Defense Forces in military intelligence.

Sultan-Dadon joined the Israeli diplomatic corps in 2004, after her father’s retirement. Her first posting was deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Israel in Yaoundé, Cameroon. She also served as head of the Public Affairs Department at the Embassy of Israel in Berlin; political counselor at the Embassy of Israel in The Hague; and deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of Israel in Canberra, Australia. She also has held positions in the Euroasia and Asia-Pacific divisions.

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While serving in Australia, Sultan-Dadon organized the 2017 historic visit from Benjamin Netanyahu. The visit marked the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister visited Australia.

Tune into our local diplomat:

What was your most unusual job?
As a student, I worked at Beeper call center, typing and sending texts to the pagers of the recipients of callers. As cellphones became a commodity, the call center was shut down and they gave us all pagers as a parting gift, which wasn’t really of use. That is where I gained my typing skills, as we were evaluated by the speed and accuracy of typing. That job does not exist anymore!

By whom have you been “star struck”?
The late Shimon Peres, one of Israel’s most prominent statesmen. I was fortunate to take part in his presidential visit to Berlin (2010) and The Hague (2013), including witnessing his moving speech in Hebrew at the German Bundestag on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

What are you reading?
“Be Strong and of Good Courage: How Israel’s Most Important Leaders Shaped Its Destiny,” which provides the perspective of four of the most significant Israeli leaders: David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin and Ariel Sharon. Each very different, but all demonstrated remarkable leadership and outstanding courage to make difficult decisions.

Where do you like to eat out?
These days we’re not going out to eat; luckily my husband is also our amazing home chef. Post-COVID I’m looking forward to going for breakfast at Another Broken Egg.

How do you spend days off?
We’re mostly home, binge watching TV shows (“Survivor”), playing Rummikub or doing whatever the teenagers will agree to doing with us.

Your children would say you are …
Too much of a hugger; they are growing way too fast for me.

What do you miss most about Israel?
Besides family and friends, I miss the Israeli very direct way of communicating.

A capability I wish I had …
I think like any parent of a child with a rare disease, I wish I could develop a treatment for Kleefstra syndrome which my younger daughter has. Unfortunately, research towards treatment of rare diseases is lacking in funding and prioritization globally.