Defending Nadav Tamir (Not)

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Earlier we noted that everal Jewish communal leaders in Boston have expressed support for the local Israeli consul general, Nadav Tamir, who is in hot water after writing a memo that was leaked to the press last week in which he criticized the Israeli government’s handling of relations with the United States.

But Monday morning several high-profile Russian Jewish activists issued a letter calling on Tamir to be recalled. At just about the same time, over in Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman suggested that Tamir should resign.

Here’s a snippet from the Russian activists’ letter:

The timing and the content of [Tamir’s] letter are astonishing. They show no connection with reality, no knowledge of the trends or American public opinion, nor that of the political reality on the ground.

Today, the American Jewish community at large is extremely concerned with the Obama administration’s haughty, inflexible, demeaning, and partisan attitude toward the democratically elected government of Israel. …

By issuing his incompetent, unprofessional, and partisan letter, Nadav Tamir proved that he is not a diplomat, but an ideologue. We are respectfully asking the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to recall Nadav Tamir from Boston. Please send us a diplomat who could learn, listen, and represent Israel without being ashamed of his country, and without sacrificing her interest to personal ideological preferences and future career aspirations.

Click here to read the full letter.

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