5 months on, PM’s pick for ambassador to Italy still unconfirmed

Five months after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tapped former Italian journalist and lawmaker Fiamma Nirenstein as Israel’s new ambassador to Italy, she still has not begun the process she needs to complete before taking up the post.

Political appointees for ambassadorial posts usually testify before a committee at Israel’s Civil Service Commission, where they are quizzed about several issues, including possible conflicts of interests. Only after the committee gives a green light, and the candidate has received security clearance, is his or her candidacy voted on in the cabinet.

Once the cabinet okays the appointment, the Israeli embassy in the respective host country asks for a so-called agrément, a host country’s confirmation of another state’s envoy to its capital.

But The Times of Israel has learned that Nirenstein, a former member of the Italian parliament, has not even cleared the first hurdle on her road to Rome. Asked whether Nirenstein had appeared before the Civil Service Commissioner committee, a spokesperson replied: “We received no request regarding this appointment.”

Usually, the process from an ambassador’s nomination to his or her cabinet approval takes no more than a few weeks. Netanyahu’s appointment for ambassador in Brazil, Dani Dayan, for instance, was announced on August 5. The cabinet confirmed his nomination exactly one month later (though he is still waiting for the agrément, which Brasilia is disinclined to provide due to his past as a leader of the settlement movement). Nirenstein did not attend the Foreign Ministry’s recent course for future heads of missions. (Dayan did.)

Israel’s current ambassador to Italy, Naor Gilon, has been in Rome since 2012 and is concluding his term this summer. Under normal circumstances, his successor would have been ready to take up the post, since it can take several months before an agrément is received.

Netanyahu publicly appointed Nirenstein on August 10, 2015, just two years after she had moved from Rome — where she had recently run, unsuccessfully, for the leadership of the Jewish community — to Jerusalem and received Israeli citizenship. “Upon her appointment as ambassador to Italy, she will renounce her Italian citizenship,” Netanyahu said at the time.

According to a government source well versed in the matter, the Civil Service Commission takes issue with the fact that her son, Beniamino Irdi Nirenstein, works for the Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna, Italy’s secret service. Officials at the commission are also unhappy about the fact that Fiamma Nirenstein has not lived in Israel “for a significant period of time,” the source said.

Nirenstein was the Israel correspondent for newspapers La Stampa and Panorama between 1991 and 2006, according to her website. Before returning to Italy to become a politician, she had lived in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem for years, acquaintances of hers told The Times of Israel. In the early 1990s, she also directed the Cultural Institute of the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv.

“We will issue in due time, after government approval, a proper statement. Meanwhile we do not have any public comment,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon told The Times of Israel on Wednesday.

Despite several attempts, Nirenstein could not be reached for comment.

Her nomination as ambassador to Italy last year was criticized by some Italian Jews, who were concerned that a former Italian parliamentarian now returning to her native land as a representative of another state could spark dual loyalty charges.

Rome Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, for instance, hailed Nirenstein as “a very good journalist,” but voiced concern over her becoming Israel’s envoy to Italy. “I fear there may be problems… just read what’s already on the social networks about her dual citizenship.”

Another senior member of the city’s Jewish community deemed Nirenstein’s appointment “problematic,” according to the Haaretz daily. “If they appointed her as Israel’s envoy in the UN or in another capital it would be alright. But appointing her as ambassador to Rome could make people ask if Italy’s Jews are Israeli or Italian. It could even harm other Jews’ chances of being elected to the Italian parliament, or to senior government posts in the future,” he told the paper.

Another community member said Netanyahu’s move could stir up anti-Jewish sentiment in Italy. “Over the years, the Jew is always suspected of being a traitor to his country. Placing her in Italy, on the other side of the table, could harm Italian Jews’ identity,” he told Haaretz. “The absolute majority of them are Zionists, but they’re also citizens with all the rights and duties. It’s not something to be trifled with.”

Born in Florence, Nirenstein, the author of a dozen books and a regular blogger at The Times of Israel, was elected to the Italian parliament in 2008 as a member of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right People of Freedom party. She served as vice president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Her term ended in March 2013 — two months before she made aliyah and became an Israel citizen and less then three years before Netanyahu would tap her as Israeli ambassador to Italy.

“I’m convinced that Fiamma Nirenstein will bring with her to the position lots of diplomatic and political experience, and will succeed in deepening the relationship between Israel and Italy, our close friends, and act for diplomatic, economic, cultural and security cooperation,” Netanyahu declared at the time.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.