Fiji’s first resident Ambassador to Israel, Jesoni Vitusagavulu was one of two ambassadors who, on Tuesday, presented credentials to President Isaac Herzog.
The other was Thai Ambassador Boonyarit Vichienpuntu, who has been in Israel for a little over four months.
The appointment of Vitusagavulu, a businessman and diplomat, was announced as recently as last month.
Initially, it was thought that Filipo Tarakinikini, Fiji’s permanent representative to the United Nations, would also serve as Ambassador to Israel. Tarakinikini led a team to Israel prior to deciding on a location for the embassy.
Tarakinikini was in Israel in September 2025 when the Fijian Embassy in Jerusalem was inaugurated by Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitoveni Rabuka together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but both countries preferred a resident ambassador to one on a commute.
Fiji is the seventh country to open an embassy in Jerusalem. The other countries with embassies in Israel’s capital are the U.S, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay.
Ambassadors present their credentials to the President of the State in chronological order based on their arrival dates in Israel.
Vitusagavulu, a former ambassador to the U.S, has had a diverse career that includes studies at universities and graduate schools in the South Pacific, the UK, Australia, and Israel. He also has a diploma in airline management from Bar Ilan University.
In addition to his diplomatic background, he has worked as an investment consultant specializing in tourism, information technology, and the audiovisual industries, as a special projects manager, and as a banker.
At the time of his present appointment, he was working as a Christian Minister in the U.S.
Marketing is apparently in his blood, because during his meeting with Herzog, he could not resist plugging Fiji Water, a bottled product sourced from an artesian aquifer on Viti Levu. The company that owns it is American and headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
Herzog said that he would like to tour the Pacific region as his father, former president Chaim Herzog, had done 40 years ago, en route to Australia. He recalled that his father had been impressed with Fiji. The subject came up as Herzog was talking about his own upcoming visit to Australia. Unlike his father, he will miss out in Fiji.
However, he believes it is important to get to know the Pacific region because the world is becoming increasingly dependent on it.
The two also discussed trade, and the ambassador said it was more advantageous for Fiji to focus on niche products rather than commodities.
On a more political level, they discussed the proposed International Stabilisation Force, a multinational force designed to operate in the Gaza Strip to contribute to the security of the civilian population and facilitate humanitarian aid. If such a force comes into being, Fiji is likely to participate.
Fiji has been a long-term participant in UN peacekeeping operations in the region, including UNIFIL, the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), and UNDOF.
