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Inside Intel / Anywhere but Africa
The Foreign Ministry often complains that the Prime Minister's Office and the Defense Ministry make important policy decisions without consulting it. And yet sometimes it seems the Foreign Ministry doesn't actually take its job seriously; how else can its recent appointment of Yitzhak Yanuka as Israeli ambassador to Angola be explained? These words are not aimed at the man personally, and are not meant to cast doubt on his abilities, but rather to criticize the method by which he was appointed.
Yanuka belongs to the administrative wing of the Foreign Ministry, and has served as an administrative officer for Israel in Cameroon and Brazil. Administrators have been appointed to diplomatic positions before. But this is the first time one has been promoted directly to the highest position in the diplomatic service without first moving through an apprenticeship in minor diplomatic roles. Advertisement
The reason for this is simple: of the hundreds of staff members at the diplomatic level, not one offered his candidacy for the job. In Boston, by contrast, 17 candidates vied for the position of consul general. This is not a new phenomenon in the Foreign Ministry. The desirable positions are in the Western capitals; serving in Africa is almost considered going into exile. For a similar reason, there was not one candidate for the job of ambassador to Eritrea, and so it was given to a staff member from the Prime Minister's Office.
It's true that serving in the Third World isn't easy. But the ministry, which seeks the respect of other government offices, must ensure that the best of its people are sent abroad - not only to the fleshpots of the West, but also to countries like Eritrea and Angola.
The two African nations are in fact strategically important for Israel's national security interests. Eritrea (even when it was part of Ethiopia) has always been a crossroads of secret activity for Israeli intelligence, a springboard to nearby Arab countries (Yemen, Egypt, Sudan) and a lookout point from which to observe the shipping lanes in the Red Sea, including those to Eilat. Angola, with its economy now developing rapidly, has become a key country in Africa. Israel buys oil from Angola, and tries very hard to sell it weapons and security equipment.
Angola is likely to interpret Yanuka's appointment as a sign of disrespect, particularly after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's last trip to Africa. By his very visit to the continent, and his remarks to Haaretz, Lieberman sought to emphasize the importance both he personally and Israel as a whole attribute to African nations, saying that the world does not consist only of the West, Europe and North America.
The foreign minister's office responded by saying that it does not get involved in appointments and does not decide who among the staff members apply for positions or to which positions they apply.