Sa’ar hits back at Lapid, says police questioning shouldn’t keep Braverman from UK envoy post

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rejects the call from Opposition Leader Yair Lapid to suspend the appointment of Tzachi Braverman as Israel’s ambassador to the UK after Braverman was detained and questioned by police today.

Braverman, says Sa’ar in a statement, “was lawfully appointed to the position of Israel’s ambassador to the United Kingdom. His appointment passed all the required stages.”

He stresses that “harming an individual — whether in their employment or in their official role — at the preliminary stage of an investigation is inconsistent with the fundamental values of human and civil rights and with the right to due process.”

“I do not believe that the mere existence of an investigation justifies undermining Mr. Braverman’s appointment or suspending him from his position,” argues Sa’ar.

Braverman was taken in for questioning by police, and his home was searched, over allegations that he attempted to obstruct a probe into the leak of classified intelligence to Bild, a German tabloid.