Former health minister Yael German, formerly a member of Foreign Minister Yair Lapid’s Yes Atid party, will be Israel’s next ambassador to France, Lapid has announced.
Lapid also said that former Yash Atid MK Simeon Solomon will be Angola’s envoy.
“German and Solomon will do a wonderful job in representing Israel and its interests,” Lapid said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Mhanai happiness. It wasn’t even a dream until they offered it to me,” the German told 103FM radio on Wednesday. “When Lapid [told me], I felt all my energy returning to me.”
The German served in the Knesset in 2013–2020, but resigned in March 2020 due to health problems, including stroke and cancer. He told the radio station that he has since been given a clean bill of health.
She said she wanted to focus on improving the French image of the Jewish state by promoting cultural cooperation.
The German said that Lapid had initially offered him the position of ambassador to Britain, replacing Tzipi Hotowli, who had been appointed by the previous government. But Hotovli, who signed a three-year contract, refused to step down.
According to a report Thursday in the Ynet news site, German’s appointment is being criticized by some involved in Israel-France relations, including members of the French Jewish community, because the visiting ambassador does not speak fluent French – A skill that is seen as important in a country known for its disdain for English.
Yesh Atid MK Yale German attends a committee meeting in the Knesset on February 14, 2017. (Yontan Sindel / Flash 90)
The report noted that a non-French speaker, for example, is much less likely to be invited for an interview on French television. It said community leaders and some French lawmakers had asked Lapid and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to hire someone with mastery of the language and familiar with the French mentality to better communicate with the French public.
- In response to the report, Lapid’s office said in a statement that knowing French was not a criterion for the job. A source in the office told Ynet that the appointment was intended to send a message to the French of the importance that Lapid adds to ties with the country – as he was sending a close confidant.
“The important thing is that the French know that Lapid has sent someone in France 100 percent of his ‘own’ and this is the importance he attaches to its relations with France and Israel,” the source said. “The German can pick up the phone directly to Lapid and he will answer it.”
The previous ambassador, Aliza Ben Nunn, stepped down in 2019 and has not had an envoy to Paris since. The embassy was operated by interim ambassador Daniel Saada.
