Foreign Ministry to hire 7 lawyers to battle int'l legal assault

Foreign Ministry to hire

By DAN IZENBERG
In a move meant to cope with the legal assault against Israel in the UN, through universal jurisdiction, and by human rights organizations, the Foreign Ministry on Thursday announced that it will hire seven new lawyers for its legal department and other departments dealing with international law. "The Foreign Ministry has been coping in the past few years with widespread legal action against it in international forums and tribunals such as investigative committees and delegations by the UN, reports by human rights organizations and efforts to launch legal actions against senior Israelis in law courts abroad," the ministry wrote in a statement to the press. "These actions have legal consequences as well as diplomatic and public relations ones." Those chosen in public tenders will serve in the legal department as well as departments dealing with international conventions, diplomatic and consular law and other legal areas. According to the tender, candidates must have at least a first degree in law, though a second degree is preferable. They also must have a license to practice in Israel and belong to the Israel Bar. According to the communique, it is also preferable for candidates to have an academic background in international law. Candidates have until January 21 to submit applications, which can be downloaded at www.civil-service.gov.il http://www.civil-service.gov.il/. The decision to hire more lawyers was one of the measures decided upon after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on October 1 ordered the ministers of defense, justice and foreign affairs to present him with proposals on how to fight what he called the delegitimization of Israel that expressed itself in more than just the Goldstone Commission report. "We now have to deal with this trend of demonizing Israel," he told them. "It is bigger than Goldstone."