Caspar Veldkamp is the ambassador of the Netherlands to Israel since August 2011. Before becoming ambassador, he worked in high-level positions at the ministry of foreign affairs of the Netherlands in The Hague, notably on Eastern and Southeastern European affairs and regarding the UN and international financial institutions. He represented his country in various meetings of such institutions as the IMF and World Bank, and functioned as a temporary alternate governor for the EBRD, IDB and Asian Development Bank.
Previously, he was political counselor at the embassy of the Netherlands in Washington DC (2002-2006), and private secretary of the Dutch minister for European Affairs (1998-2002). He has experienced the inner workings of the European Union (EU) as a Dutch delegation member to several dozens of EU ministerial and European Council summit meetings. He also worked in various lower-level diplomatic positions in The Hague and at the embassy of his country in Warsaw, Poland (1995-1998).
Before joining the foreign service of his country, he worked in the staff of US senator Richard G. Lugar (R-IN) on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, and served as a reserve officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy. Veldkamp has studied business economics and public administration in the Netherlands and the US and did executive programs at Harvard University (US) and INSEAD (France). Apart from his professional life, he has a passion for aviation. He has practiced skydiving, hang gliding and paragliding and has published articles on aviation history. Moreover, he is interested in politics. He is married to Anne, a lawyer of French nationality; they have four teenage children.