Tuva Herzl: The Israeli diplomat who has nothing to say

Tuva Herzl, a former Israeli diplomat, writes about the difficulty of representing the current government's policy in the face of embarrassing questions about the exclusion of Arabs, threats of sanctions, and a crypto-based economy. She argues that the best course for an Israeli diplomat is to remain silent until Israel changes its ways.

Tuva Herzl, a retired Foreign Ministry official who served as ambassador to the Baltic states and in other roles, writes an opinion piece about the difficulty Israeli diplomats face in representing the current government's policies. She imagines scenarios where she is asked awkward questions: about the prime minister's attempts to exclude Arab voters, about threats of international sanctions, and about plans for a crypto-based parallel economy. According to her, a diplomat with integrity cannot claim that all Arabs are a threat, but also cannot say that the prime minister is acting out of political survival. She suggests that the best course for an Israeli diplomat in recent years is to remain silent, until Israel changes its policies and can speak again with a clear voice. The article ends with a call for the opposition to unite, including with representatives of Arab citizens, to prevent another term of the current policies.