Roni Akale

Director-General

Like the thousands of others that overcame the hardships of Aliyah during Operation Moses, Dessie (Roni) Akale crossed Ethiopia by foot, walking 800 kilometers, and then waited in Sudan until arriving in Jerusalem in December, 1983 at the age of 20.

Roni obtained a B.A. in Social Work from Haifa University in 1990, and later went on to obtain an M.A. in Management and Public Policy Administration from Ben-Gurion University.  He holds additional training in educational leadership and non-profit management.

Roni served as a Mental Health Officer in the Israel Defense Forces. He played a critical role during Operation Solomon in May 1991, applying his personal and professional experience to assist newcomers on this historical airlift when 14,325 Ethiopian Jews were transported to Israel in 36 hours.

Roni brings rich professional experience to the role of Director-General. He served as a family social worker in the municipality of Ashdod. He was the Director of Ethiopian Job Placement and Counseling within the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption  and was the Ministry's Manager of the nation-wide network of moked klitah service centers for immigrants, overseeing 21 cities and towns. In addition, he has carried out a wide variety of volunteer projects, and has served in leadership positions as part of his broader humanitarian career. From 2008 to 2010 Roni served as Chairman of the Representatives of Ethiopian Jewish Organizations in Israel. 

In 2011, Roni concluded his post as the Chief Executive Officer of FIDEL Association for Education and Social Integration of Ethiopian Jews in Israel (which he held since 2007) to assume the role of Director-General of ENP in April of 2011.

Roni lives with his wife and their four sons in Gan Yavne.