Report: Brazilian president opposes Amb. appointment of former settler leader Dayan

Government sources say no talk in PMO about replacing Dayan as envoy to Brazil.

By HERB KEINON
Updated: SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 00:52
Dani Dayan. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Dani Dayan.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
There is currently no talk in the Prime Minister’s Office of scratching the appointment of Dani Dayan as Israel’s next ambassador to Brazil, a government source said Sunday following reports that Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was opposed to the appointment because Dayan is a former settlement leader.
According to a report in Yediot Aharonot, Rousseff passed on quiet messages to Jerusalem that she was unhappy with the appointment, and that the country was concerned that it would be interpreted as Brazilian support for Israel’s settlement policies.
The Foreign Ministry had no comment on the matter.
The Argentinian-born Dayan, who is a former head of the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria, lives in Ma’aleh Shomron in Samaria. He was chosen by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a political appointee, and his posting was approved by the cabinet in early September.
Netanyahu has indicated recently that he views developing markets – in Brazil in particular, and in South America in general – as a high-priority item, just as he is keen on developing economic ties with China and Japan.
In August, a number of Palestinian, Islamic and left-wing NGOs sent a petition to Rousseff against Dayan’s appointment. A Foreign Ministry spokesman at the time said that despite the petitions, Israel expected his candidacy would be accepted.
According to protocol, a host nation can reject the appointment of an ambassador, but this is something that happens only very rarely.
In 1997, Turkey rejected Israel’s ambassadorial appointment at the time, Ehud Toledano, because of alleged comments he made regarding the Armenian genocide.


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