Israel’s ambassador to Canada has said he intends to leave his post shortly after a change of government in his country.
The move by Ambassador Ronen Hoffman comes after Yael German, Israel’s ambassador to France, announced in late December that she was resigning in protest against the new administration led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who returned to power with a governing coalition described as the most right-wing in the nation’s history.
“With the transition to the new government and to a different policy in Israel, my personal and professional integrity led me to ask to shorten my term and return to Israel this summer,” Ronen Hoffman said on Twitter. I will continue to serve the State of Israel here in Canada with the same passion and pleasure until a replacement is appointed later this year. »
Mr. Hoffman, who was appointed to the post just over a year ago, did not specify what he meant by “different policy”. A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Ottawa said Sunday he had no further information to add.
Joe Roberts, who chairs JSpaceCanada’s board of directors, said Hoffman’s announcement was “diplomatic, but clear.”
“I think given the increasingly complex and deepening relationship between Israel and Canada, this is important,” said Roberts, whose organization describes itself as a Canadian voice for Jewish values. progressives and Israeli-Palestinian peace.
“It should be a clear message to the Canadian Jewish community that if someone who is an ambassador for Israel is willing to resign and say that it goes against their integrity, that means that as Jews, with the relationship we have with the State of Israel, it is time for us too to raise our voice. »
Mr. Roberts calls on the Canadian government to commit not to maintain official relations with the “most extreme elements” of the ruling coalition.
Fight for the courts
Opponents of the Netanyahu coalition have argued that his plan to overhaul the country’s justice system would jeopardize democracy, and tens of thousands of demonstrators marched through Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest Mr Netanyahu’s plan.
The government says an imbalance of power has given judges and government legal advisers too much control over law-making and governance.
In addition to the protests, the new government has faced mounting pressure after the country’s attorney general asked Mr Netanyahu to fire a key cabinet ally, following a Supreme Court ruling that left him disqualified for government office due to conviction for tax crimes.
Mr Netanyahu, who is himself the subject of a corruption prosecution, sacked the minister on Sunday in a move that is expected to stoke divisiveness over the power of the courts.
With the Associated Press