■ IN THE whirl of farewell events that she has attended, Anjan Shakya, the ambassador of Nepal, who returns home on Friday, October 22, decided to host a farewell of her own in order to thank some of the people who befriended her, and helped her greatly enhance the relations between Nepal and Israel. Held in high esteem by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more achievements in just over two-and-a-half years than all her predecessors put together, a sign of the impact that she has made was in the multiple Foreign Ministry representatives at her residence for her Thank You reception. They included Deputy Director General for Asia Rafi Harpaz, Gil Haskel, former Israel Ambassador to Nepal Yaron Meir and Yitzhak Eldan, a retired ambassador and former chief of state protocol who is now the president of the Ambassadors’ Club of Israel. Also present were Adina Gottesman, who for many years prior to the opening of a Nepalese Embassy in Israel, served as Nepal’s honorary consul; and mountain climber Nadav Ben-Yehuda, who with or without the title of honorary consul has acted as an unofficial spokesman for Nepal. He was the first Israeli to climb Nepal’s Mount Annapurna 1, and is the Israeli who has climbed the most mountains that are more than 8,000 meters high. All were lavish in their praise of Shakya, commending her not only for her accomplishments, but also for her charm. Harpaz said that she had taken Israel by storm, and was a role model not only for other Asian ambassadors, but for all ambassadors. Haskel, who was previously head of Mashav, Israel’s Agency for International Development during which time he visited Nepal, recalled that Shakya – a former singer and media personality – had taken him around and because she was so famous, they were surrounded by her fans wherever they went. He told her that she had left a legacy that would be difficult to continue. Meir said that he could not understand how come he had never met her in Nepal, but only in Israel, where they had formed a close friendship. Eldan said that they should be thanking her instead of the other way around. It was easy after she had been in Israel for only one year, to choose her as Ambassador of the Year, he said, explaining that the title usually goes to someone who has served for at least two years. “In a very short time, you conquered the hearts of so many,” he said. “You are an artist in public diplomacy.”

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