Government Approves Four New Ambassadors to Latvia, Honduras, Nigeria and Cameroon

Israel's government on Wednesday, 11 November, approved four new ambassadors proposed by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar: Anna Ben Ezra to Latvia, Ido Bromberg to Honduras, Barak Granot to Nigeria and Oshra Yosef Friedman to Cameroon. Ben Ezra and Bromberg were chosen by the Foreign Service appointments committee, while Granot and Yosef Friedman were selected by an examining committee in an inter-ministerial tender. The Foreign Ministry's committee for heads of missions abroad, chaired by Sa'ar, picked Ben Ezra and Bromberg on 18 October. Ben Ezra heads the project planning and development department in the ministry's public diplomacy division and previously served as a counselor at Israel's mission to the European Union and NATO. Bromberg heads the department for human rights and international organizations and earlier served as political adviser in Tokyo and information officer in Paris. The committee said Sa'ar would bring both appointments to the ministerial committee on Foreign Service appointments and then to the full government. The approvals follow a dispute over timing. In September, during the election campaign, Sa'ar brought 12 other ambassador posts to the appointments committee, among them India, Jordan, Canada and Switzerland, most of them due to begin only in summer 2027. Senior ministry officials were reported as saying the move "looks bad and smells like a grab before elections." The Foreign Ministry answered that heads of mission from the permanent diplomatic staff are appointed every September and October, so that diplomats and their families have time to prepare. The ministry said the process runs in full coordination with the Civil Service Commission and the Justice Ministry. Each appointment also requires the consent of the host country before the envoy takes up the post.