1. Reuven Merhav graduated from the School of History at Tel Aviv University and from the Institute of Asian and African Studies of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he was elected President of the National Union of Israeli Students, before earning his degree in Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern history and Arabic language and literature.
Reuven Merhav previously served, as part of his compulsory military service, in the Israel Defense Forces in a paratrooper commando unit which was active in reprisal operations carried out by the IDF in the 1950s and 1960s in response to frequent Fedayeen terror attacks.
In 1956, Reuven Merhav returned to Kibbutz Dvir in southern Israel, where he was part of its Israeli founding group.
Reuven Merhav worked in Israeli intelligence from 1961 to 1983 in missions overseas in Ethiopia, Kenya and Iran before the Iranian Revolution.
Reuven Merhav was Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1988 to 1991.
Reuven Merhav was appointed as a member of the Turkel Commission, which investigated the Gaza flotilla raid, and the Blockade of Gaza.
Reuven Merhav worked in Israeli intelligence from 1961 to 1983 specializing mainly in the Horn of Africa and the wide Middle East.
Reuven Merhav then was appointed to another position at headquarters.
Reuven Merhav joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and worked in a diplomatic mission in Lebanon from 1983 to 1984, advising during the Lebanon War which had ramifications for Israel.
Reuven Merhav worked in Hong Kong from 1985 to 1988 fostering paths to China prior to establishing diplomatic relations between Israel and the People's Republic of China.
Reuven Merhav was Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1988 to 1991.
Reuven Merhav was then appointed Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Immigrant Absorption from 1992 to 1993, when the Ministry focused on the integration of Ethiopian Jews in Israel.
Reuven Merhav worked at the Operational Theory Research Institute, an IDF organ, as advisor and tutor on geopolitical subjects from 1999 to 2007.
Reuven Merhav lectured at the Hebrew University's Federmann Graduate School of Public Policy and Government from 2006 to 2008.
Reuven Merhav is the 11th and current Chair of the Presidium of the Association of Israelis of Central European Origin, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Claims Conference.
Reuven Merhav is special advisor to the Head of the European Sho'ah Legacy Institute in Prague, the monitoring organ for HEAC resolutions.
Reuven Merhav was nominated by the foreign minister of the Czech Republic as member of the ESLI Honorary Board in 2015.
Reuven Merhav co-wrote "The Role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in a Future Permanent Status Settlement in Jerusalem: Legal, Political and Practical Aspects".
Reuven Merhav was the founding and first chairman of the executive committee of the Max Stern Academic College of Emek Yezreel from 1995 to 2000 as well as the founding and first chairman of the Ethiopian National Project, a tripartite project of the Ethiopian Community, the Government of Israel and world Jewry, to advance education among Ethiopian youth from 2002 to 2007.