Israel appoints 13 new ambassadors
Paris, Moscow, Amman and even Dublin anxiously awaiting new ambassadors; other appointments expected next week
Only three days after the State Comptrollers criticized the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for inadequate conduct, the ministry's top selection committee headed by Minister Tzipi Livni approved the appointments of 13 news ambassadors. The new appointments are still pending government approval.
The new ambassadors:
• Yaakov Rosen – Amman, Jordan
• Noah Gal Gandler – Sofia, Bulgaria
• Danny Sheck – Paris, France
• Danny Kedem – Abidjan, Ivory Coast
• Gideon Bachar – Dakar, Senegal
• Ran Yishai – Almati, Kazakhstan
• Chen Ivri – Riga, Latvia
• Zeev Boker – Bratislava, Slovakia
• Zion Evrony – Dublin, Ireland
• Ehud Eitam – San Jose, Costa Rica
• Avi Hadad – Nicosia, Cyprus
• Anna Azari – Moscow, Russia
• Reda Mansour – Israel's Consul General Atlanta, GA
The selection committee meetings were delayed in the past months due to the general elections, which caused anxious appointees to wait.
Next Thursday the selection committee is expected to convene again and appoint a similar number of representatives and fill all the positions.
In the future the second selection committee is expected to meet, headed by MFA's Director-General Aharon Abramovitch, and elect the rest of the personnel in Israel's missions abroad.
Rosen, who is slated to become Israel's ambassador to Jordan, serves as a state consultant for Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski. In the past he was in second position at the Israeli embassy in Amman and is very familiar with the Jordan.
MFA employees' union was content with appointments and with the committee's conduct, which they have been looking forward to.
"My impression was that the foreign minister did its best to run a business-like meeting and fulfilled its obligation to appoint the most professional people to the top positions in the ministry," a union representative told Ynet.
In the past, Livni promised not to use politics when appointing.
"You can see the outcome. The appointees are people who can represent Israel honorably. At the same time the second round of appointments should be completed, and mainly begin the reform as recommended by the State Comptroller," said the union representative.
