Diplomat Alon Ushpiz appointed new director-general of Foreign Ministry
Tapped by Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, current ministry political director has served as ambassador to India and in the DC embassy
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Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi on Thursday appointed Alon Ushpiz, a senior diplomat, as the new director-general of the ministry.
Ushpiz is the ministry’s former political director and an erstwhile ambassador to India. He has also been posted with the ministry at Israel’s embassy in Washington.
Ushpiz will replace Yuval Rotem, who has served in the post since 2016.
Rotem requested to leave the post after a lengthy service in the ministry, the Ynet news site reported. The appointment of Ushpiz must still be confirmed by the cabinet.
Ashkenazi, No. 2 in the Blue and White party, is a former IDF chief of staff and headed the Knesset’s influential Foreign Affairs and Defense committee.
Upon taking office last month, he endorsed the Trump administration’s peace plan, said he views diplomacy as a means to avoid war and achieve peace, and vowed to advance Israel’s ties with other countries in the Middle East.
Since Ashkenazi took the helm, the ministry has mainly been busy with issues related to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned annexation of parts of the West Bank.
Netanyahu has vowed to move forward with annexing parts of the West Bank on July 1. Ashkenazi and Blue and White party chair Benny Gantz have said that the move should not be unilateral, but part of a broader diplomatic move that would include benefits for the Palestinians.
The Times of Israel Community.