Israel’s former consul general to New York may have broken his diplomatic contract by agreeing to head an American Jewish group. Alon Pinkas, who recently accepted the CEO position at the American Jewish Congress, may have broken an Israeli Foreign Ministry contract that requires former diplomats to wait two years before working for a group they had contact with during their tenure. The waiting period can be waived only with approval from Israel’s public service commissioner. The Foreign Ministry plans to ask Pinkas to obtain such approval to avoid a conflict of interest, according to Israel’s Army Radio. “We’re of the understanding that everything we did was on the up and up,” said Juda Engelmeyer, AJCongress’ spokesman. He added that Pinkas would not start the new position with the group until his visa is changed from a diplomatic passport to a regular one. Pinkas is not speaking to the media, Engelmeyer said.
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