Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Israeli envoy to France threatens to quit over incoming Netanyahu government

“I’m not sure that I can represent the new government,” said Ambassador Yael German.

Israeli Ambassador to France Yael German. Source: Twitter.
Israeli Ambassador to France Yael German. Source: Twitter.

Israeli Ambassador to France Yael German broke civil service rules by threatening to quit her post for partisan political reasons, but the foreign ministry has declined to take action.

Previous ambassadors appointed by former and incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refrained from expressing their political views against the previous government led first by Naftali Bennett and now by caretaker and outgoing Premier Yair Lapid, a report in Israel Hayom noted.

German said in an interview last week with i24NEWS: “I’m not sure that I can represent the new government, so if I can’t represent it, I will resign. I’m waiting, I’ll see what kind of government we have and what we do...and then I’ll make my decision.”

German previously served as health minister and before that as mayor of Herzliya. She was appointed in Aug. 2021 by then-Foreign Minister Lapid to serve as Israel’s top envoy in Paris.

Israel’s Civil Service Regulations require that all diplomats refrain from publicly assuming political positions or making personal political statements of any kind.

Iran’s supreme leader blamed Washington and Jerusalem for regional divisions, while American officials reported control of Hormuz.
The concern in the P.A. was that running separately might have led Hadash, Balad and Ta’al to each fall short of the 3.25% threshold of votes needed to enter the Knesset.
“What does he want from this?” Santiago Vidal Calvo, a Manhattan Institute analyst, told JNS. “Is this a publicity stunt?”
“For years, UNRWA schools have incited violence against Israel, UNRWA employees actively participated in the Oct. 7 massacre and throughout the war, terrorists carried out attacks against Israelis from UNRWA facilities,” the Israeli envoy told JNS.