Israel's Turkish envoy has a friendly face in Ankara
Upon moving into the ambassador's residence in Turkey, Eitan Na'eh discovers an Israeli neighbor married to Swiss Ambassador to Ankara Walter Haffner; 'I have found myself arguing for Israel here,' says Tamar Haffner.
Tamar met her husband in 2010 in Israel while he was serving as the Swiss ambassador here. Two years later when Haffner completed his term and was appointed ambassador to Riga, Tamar accompanied him, and the two tied the knot in Zurich and in Israel this year in August, marking a second marriage for both of them.
Prior to being married, the Swiss Foreign Ministry announced its intention to appoint Walter to the same position in Iran, a nomination he refused on the grounds of his wife’s nationality. Indeed, the ambassador feared that the Iranians would not approve the nomination, or would make life difficult, all the more so since the two were not yet married at the time.
Tamar said that during her sojourn in Turkey, at times she herself felt like she was serving as a de facto Israeli ambassador to her host country.
“I host the wives of ambassadors and hosted the ambassador of Saudi Arabia. I also invited the Iranian ambassador’s wife, but when I informed her that I was Israeli she got cold feet and didn’t come. I find myself arguing for Israel with foreign diplomats here,” she said.
Even Walter himself said that sometimes he feels like an Israeli ambassador, particularly given his command of a Hebrew vocabulary, albeit a limited one.
The two said they both find themselves defending Israel at many events, particularly during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 when they clashed with the wives of the Danish and Canadian ambassadors. “They were speaking against Israel and the settlements, but I defended the state strongly.”
Tamar and her husband have already done what they can to make Na’eh feel that he has a friendly couple on which to rely. “Come round if you need a bit of sugar,” they told him.
