Daniel Taub, the newly appointed Israeli Ambassador to the Court of St. James, is the father of all advocates, and a paradigm for this post.
London-born, Oxford and Harvard-educated, he has always excelled in argument. He was the most persuasive debater throughout my time at Oxford, in a strong field including William Hague and Boris Johnson.
It is his playful and inventive humour that has always marked him out from the crowd and wins him admirers. Harold Wilson was so impressed by a witty introduction the young Taub had given him to Oxford's Jewish Society that the former British Prime Minister asked him if he would like to stand for Parliament.
But Daniel's heart was elsewhere - Jewish education.
Daniel put his literary talents to good use in Israel in writing HaHatzer, a modern soap-opera set in the court of a Chasidic Rebbe, for his brothers-in-laws' Israeli TV channel Tehelet. Education continues to be important to him, and Limmud has benefited from his lectures.
After he qualified in law and completed a master's degree in London, his gorgeous wife, Zehava, a teacher, persuaded him to move to Israel. They make a good team. In addition to giving him six children she keeps him on his mettle by constantly challenging him on his work: the best form of preparation for all lawyers and advocates.
Daniel's knowledge of counter-terrorism will be useful in behind-the-scenes security matters.
A decade ago, I expressed sadness in these pages at the decline in the quality of Israeli envoys to London. Ron Prosor remedied this. Daniel is a worthy successor.
But one hopes that Israeli Premiers, current and future, will nonetheless find a role for him in peace negotiations. Daniel is also too good for us Brits to monopolise all his talents.
Andrew Rosemarine is an international barrister and commentator
