Monday, March 12, 2007

Israeli diplomacy at its most creative...

Like many of my like-minded friends, I find myself becoming tired - overwhelmed, even - by the way that Israel is always being portrayed in the news. It is exhausting to see the constant stream of bad press because of our actions in the Territories, our behavior at checkpoints, targeted assassinations etc. It is frustrating, because I know that we are capable of so much more than these acts of violence and humiliation, and that there are so many other faces that we can be showing to the world, which is why it was so refreshing to come across this article in Haaretz today, proving once again all that Israel is so much more than just an oppressor of Palestinians.

Envoy to El Salvador recalled, reportedly found naked, drunk
By Haaretz Service

The Foreign Ministry recalled Israel's ambassador to El Salvador,
Tzuriel Refael, after he was reportedly found on the street naked, drunk, bound and gagged, Israel Radio reported on Monday.

According to reports, two weeks ago San Salvador police approached a man that seemed to be in need of help. Upon reaching the man, they discovered that he was inebriated, his hands were tied, his mouth was gagged with a rubber ball and he was carrying accessories that implied he had been involved in sexual activity.

In spite of his inebriated state, the naked man identified himself by his full name and explained that he is Israel's ambassador to the country.

6 comments:

Life Out East said...

Wonderful, what a guy! He could get into British politics no sweat.
I know it's probably very shameful for all concerned but I do love stories like this, reminds you that politicians, diplomats etc are human after all.

Anonymous said...

oh my... I'm not even sure what to do with this one...

Anonymous said...

Cool... now I know what it takes to become an ambassador. And I thought that you have to be of some special qualities. Indeed this is one "special quality".

Remember! 90% of the iceberg are beneath the water. So for each ambassador like that there are 9 others unseen.

Life Out East said...

They mentioned this story in the Bangkok Post today, quite amusing. They went on to list a few other Israeli diplomats with "less than traditional" sexual tastes.

tafka PP said...

I was told this story today in a meeting (in the US- by someone not Jewish)

Nobody is saying the man isn't entitled to whatever sex life he chooses, but couldn't he at least have pretended to be someone else?!

Charles Malik said...

I saw this in the Lebanese media. It was presented in a comical manner, but I'm not sure it is funny.