Alon Pinkas
Photo: Michael Kramer
Shai Bazak
Photo: Tzvika Tishler
Alon Pinkas may be Israel's next UN ambassador
Lieberman mulling replacing Prof. Gabriela Shalev with former Israeli consul general in Washington
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman
is looking into the possibility of appointing Alon Pinkas as Israel's
next ambassador to the United Nations instead of Prof. Gabriela Shalev, Channel 1 television reported Friday.
As part of discussions aimed at expanding his personal appointments in Israeli embassies across the world, the foreign minister is also mulling appointing Shai Bazak as the Israeli consul general in New York.
Alon Pinkas, born in 1962, is an Israeli diplomat who served as Israel's consul general in the Washington from 2000 to 2004. He currently serves as foreign affairs analyst for Fox News and sometimes appears on Israeli news programs as a commentator on the United States.
Pinkas served as chief of staff to Foreign Ministers David Levy and Shlomo Ben-Ami. He was Ehud Barak's foreign policy advisor and Shimon Peres' political advisor. In 2006, he run for a place on the Labor Party's Knesset list, but failed to reach the Israeli parliament.
Shai Bazak served as Benjamin Netanyahu's media advisor during his first tenure as prime minister. At the young age of 33, he was appointed as the Israeli consul general in Florida and Puerto Rico.
These two appointments have yet to be finalized, and Lieberman has yet to make a final decision on the matter. If he does decide to go ahead with these appointments, they will have to be approved by the government.
