Israel's US envoy to quit over humiliation

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:22:02 GMT

Israel's ambassador to the US has decided to step down, after he was reportedly excused from attending a meeting with the US state secretary.

Sallai Meridor announced his decision to resign on Thursday, while reports said he had earlier informed outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu on his decision.

"In light of the sensitive nature of the position of the ambassador to the most important country in the world and Israel's strongest ally in the international community, it's fitting and proper that the new government will have the opportunity to appoint, immediately upon its formation, the man or woman of its choosing as an ambassador to Washington," Meridor said in a statement.

The decision follows Israeli media reports that Netanyahu asked Meridor to leave the room during a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Jerusalem (al-Quds) on Wednesday.

Meridor was asked to leave even though US Ambassador to Israel James Cunningham and the US special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, remained at the meeting.

Two other Israeli aides, attorney Yitzhak Molcho and Uzi Arad, also continued to attend the meeting despite a ban on the latter, barring him from entering the US due to alleged contacts with Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin, who has been convicted of passing information to Israel.

Olmert expressed his regret over Meridor's decision and praised him as "an exceptionally capable diplomat" with "unprecedented influence in the US administration and Congress."

The envoy's resignation comes at a crucial time when relations between Washington and Tel Aviv are in a cloud of doubt. US President Barack Obama's administration is seeking to revitalize Middle East peace efforts in the face of an apparent domination of hawks in Israel.

Meridor, installed as the Israeli envoy to the US in 2006, said he would continue at the post until his replacement arrived.

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