Israel’s Foreign Ministry making a comeback?

Jul 8, 2020

Ten new ambassadors and one consul general were appointed July 5 — a record number rarely seen in Israel in recent years. All of the new envoys are career diplomats, and all of them have served in multiple senior positions in Israel and abroad. The impressive list includes three women — Hagit Ben-Yaakov, Meirav Eilon Shahar and Zehavit Ben Hillel. And it also includes Israel’s first Bedouin ambassador — Ismail Haldi.

With most of the new envoys expected to take up office at the beginning of September, they have little time to prepare. Still, the atmosphere at the ministry in Jerusalem seems to be festive. 

Israel’s Foreign Ministry had its share of tough periods. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also served as foreign minister for several years, conducted Israel’s diplomacy out of his own office, with the diplomats relegated to relatively minor topics. The Palestinian issues, the Iranian file, the renewal of contacts with African Muslim countries and the creation of ties with Arab Gulf states were Netanyahu’s domain. And even when he finally appointed a full-time foreign minister — Israel Katz — he kept the reigns of diplomacy on the big strategic issues in his own portfolio.

Then there was the issue of the budget. In September 2019, the Finance Ministry announced the freezing of financial activities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following a severe budget deficit. A decision that literally meant that the ministry and its diplomatic missions abroad would be almost completely paralyzed. Israeli diplomats were shocked — but then they weren’t. Over the years, the ministry’s budget was cut again and again, so obviously in the end it went into a deficit. Some diplomats who served in Jerusalem told Al-Monitor at the time that there were no more funds even for the most basic office supplies. Inviting a foreign diplomat for a cup of coffee was out of the question; delegations of journalists from Turkey and Europe were canceled. And the list went on. The salaries of diplomats and other embassy staff also suffered, and the labor union planned strikes more than once.

And as if that was not enough, many of the responsibilities of the ministries were taken away and handed over to other ministries. For instance, the battle against the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement was relegated to the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, even though it was Israeli diplomats facing and confronting the boycott activists across the globe.