Italy rejects appointment of former settlement mayor as Israeli ambassador

By Lazar Berman

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7 March 2024, 5:38 pm 10 Edit

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

File: Ma'ale Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel at a protest tent outside the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, February 4, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Italy rejected the appointment of former Ma’ale Adumim mayor Benny Kashriel as the new Israeli ambassador, a Foreign Ministry official tells The Times of Israel, confirming an earlier report from Ynet.

Rome did not want an ambassador who was mayor of a West Bank settlement and had also headed the Yesha Council, the main political arm of the settlement movement. Kashriel had been appointed as envoy by current Energy Minister Eli Cohen, who headed the Foreign Ministry until earlier this year.

Instead, Kashriel will be envoy to Hungary.

The Foreign Ministry is now looking for a career diplomat to fill the role, potentially Yoni Peled, who had been appointed as ambassador to Hungary.