Foreign Ministry director says bringing spokesperson under his personal control

Foreign Ministry Director-General Eden Bar Tal tells diplomats he is bringing the ministry’s spokesperson’s office under his direct control.

“The Foreign Ministry is currently leading the campaign for public opinion in the international arena, at a time when Israel is facing increasing media and public opinion challenges,” he writes to ministry employees in an email viewed by The Times of Israel. “In order to shorten work processes, and to enable rapid and effective action, I have decided to transfer the Spokespersons Division to my direct subordination.”

The spokesperson’s office is currently under Deputy Director-General for Public Diplomacy Yaakov Livne.

“I don’t understand what the purpose of this move is,” a diplomat tells The Times of Israel. “Any important message goes through the director-general and foreign minister anyway.”

Senior ministry officials tell Ynet that “spokespeople were always in close contact with the minister and the director-general, but the official subordination changes the essence of the job. Instead of a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, there will be a spokesperson for the director-general.”