Israel’s foreign ministry has approved the appointment of Mark Regev, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long-time spokesman, as Israel’s next ambassador to Britain.

He succeeds Daniel Taub who recently finished a four-year term in London.

The confirmation of Regev’s appointment comes one week before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to travel to the British capital for meetings with his British counterpart, David Cameron.

The two leaders are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting at 10 Downing Street before the Jewish New Year, which takes place next weekend.

Melbourne-born Regev immigrated to Israel in 1982 and is a career Israeli diplomat. He joined the Foreign Service in 1990, and subsequently served in various positions in Hong Kong, Beijing and Washington DC. After three years as the foreign ministry’s spokesperson, he was appointed to the role of the Prime Minister’s foreign press media adviser in 2007 under Ehud Olmert, a position that he has held until today.

Regev holds a BA in Political Science and History from the University of Melbourne, a MA in Political Science from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a MSc in Management from Boston University.

For years, Regev has been a regular fixture on English-language news programs around the world as an articulate and unflappable spokesman for Israel's policie.

The Foreign Minister, a position now held by Netanyahu, is allowed a maximum of 11 political appointments. He has used a number of them in recent weeks in appointing Dani Dayan to Brazil, Fiamma Nirenstein to Italy, and Danny Danon to the United Nations.

Regev’s appointment is a professional – not political – appointment.

In addition to Regev, the foreign ministry also named the Zvi Vapni as Israel's ambassador to Slovakia. The following consul-general appointments were also made: Amikam Levy to Shanghai; Michael Brodsky, Astana; Lior Hayat, Miami; and Yael Hashavit, Bangalore.

Eli Ben-Tura, formerly Israel's ambassador to Senegal, was named as non-resident ambassador to Africa, and Yoram Elron was named as the deputy director-general for Africa.

The appointments now go to the full cabinet for approval, something generally considered just a formality.