Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has rejected proposals to name Soviet Jewry activist Natan Sharansky as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.
His position became public knowledge over the weekend, after he discussed the matter with Foreign Minister Moshe Arens.
Arens, along with Deputy Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s former U.N. ambassador, had been urging Sharansky’s appointment for months, despite the ex-refusenik’s lack of formal diplomatic experience.
But Shamir apparently felt Sharansky’s nomination would needlessly antagonize Moscow, The Jerusalem Post reported Sunday. Sharansky is an outspoken critic of the Soviet Union’s immigration and human rights policies.
The prime minister is said to prefer a seasoned diplomat for the highly visible, prestigious post. He is reported to favor Ovadia Soffer, now Israel’s ambassador to France. Soffer has been in Paris more than four years and before that was ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.
But many ministry staff members favor another senior diplomat, Ya’acov Levin, for the U.N. post. Levin presently heads the Israeli consular mission in Moscow.
Before that, he served as deputy chief of mission at the United Nations in New York.
OLMERT FAVORED FOR U.S. POST
Elsewhere on the diplomatic scene, it is reported that Likud Minister Ehud Olmert is Shamir’s choice to be Israel’s next ambassador to the United States.
Olmert, 46, holds no portfolio in the Cabinet, but is the minister responsible for Israel’s Arab community.
He is considered close to the prime minister politically and personally, and had a role in shaping Shamir’s proposals for Palestinian elections in the administered territories.
Olmert also is highly regarded by the prime minister for his proven ability to address Jewish and non-Jewish audiences in the United States.
But Olmert has let it be known he would be willing to go to Washington only if he can retain his rank as a Cabinet member.
There is no Israeli precedent for such a dual function, though it is not unknown in diplomatic annals.
For example, Lord Halifax, Britain’s wartime ambassador to the United States, remained a member of Winston Churchill’s Cabinet.
The Israeli incumbent in Washington is career diplomat Moshe Arad, who has been at that post less than two years. He was appointed while Shimon Peres, the Labor Party leader, was foreign minister.
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