Not everyone is pleased with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s announced appointment for Israel’s next ambassador to Cairo. Lieberman tapped a close colleague and Yisrael Beitenu loyalist Shaul Kamisa, a retired IDF colonel, an appointment which is political and opponents feel as such, it may harm relations between Jerusalem and Cairo due to the close relationship that exists between Kamisa and Lieberman.

Opponents fear that Kamisa’s military background and his inability to speak the language will complicate relations with Cairo, and may actually result in Egypt’s unwillingness to accept his credentials. Ironically, opponents to the appointment have already set the stage for Egyptian objections, having done all the work for Cairo, already complicating the already tense situation that has followed the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister.

A 1998 cabinet decision permit’s a foreign minister to make 11 political appointments to diplomatic posts but the practice is frowned upon by the State Comptroller’s Office.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)