Gideon Paz
Former director of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation (AICF), artistic advisor to various entities, lawyer by profession. For several years he served as assistant to Israel’s economic legate in New York as well as the Israeli Finance Ministry’s representative in the US. Upon leaving office in 1965, he was appointed Director of the AICF New York. When he returned to Israel five years later, he continued directing the foundation from here.
In the 1980s, Paz left AICF and became director of the Jerusalem Spring Festival, and was later appointed CEO of the Israel Festival and headed the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra of the Israel Broadcasting Authority. In 1984, he initiated the Shades of Dance (Gvanim Bemachol) competition with director and choreographer Elida Gera, who headed the dance department in Omanut Laam at the time. At the same time, Paz was active as an impresario; the numerous artists he brought to Israel included Pina Bausch’s company, Maurice Béjart and Stuttgart Ballet. In 2000, Paz was asked to resume his position as AICF director in Israel, a position he held until 2007.
Paz sat on many public committees. Among other things, he was a member of the public committee appointed by Lea Porat-Gur to assess the feasibility of consolidating Batsheva and Bat-Dor in 1974. Following the committee’s recommendation to dissolve the joint association, Batsheva began operating as an independent company supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. Paz was a member of Batsheva’s public committee for many years.