Palestinian scientist named to high Israeli gov’t post

A scientist from eastern Jerusalem became the highest-ranking Palestinian without Israeli citizenship in an official government post.

Tarek Abu-Hamed of the Sur Baher neighborhood was named deputy chief scientist of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space, the ministry announced Sunday. The Times of Israel noted his achievement as a Palestinian in the Israeli government.

Abu-Hamed has an Israeli identification number and permanent residency status, Haaretz reported.

He began working at the Ministry of Science as a scientific manager in engineering two years ago. He did post-doctorate study at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Technology in collaboration with the University of Minnesota.