THE immediate future of Israel’s ambassador to Canberra hangs in the balance after he reportedly told a newspaper that Australians and Israelis stood out in Asia because “we don’t have yellow skin and slanted eyes”.
If Naftali Tamir is found to have made “this grave and unacceptable remark”, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said, there would be no return to “business as usual”.
The Federal Government refused to comment, but Labor’s foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, said yesterday: “If accurate, these comments are completely unacceptable. We welcome reports that the Israeli Foreign Ministry is dealing with this incident as a matter of top priority.”
Mr Rudd said Mr Tamir’s tenure was “a matter to be addressed once the accuracy of the comments are tested”.
The Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz carried an interview on Friday with the visiting Mr Tamir, who allegedly said Australia and Israel were “like sisters in Asia”.
“We are in Asia without the characteristics of Asians,” he reportedly said. “We don’t have the yellow skin and slanted eyes. Asia is basically the yellow race. Australia and Israel are … basically the white race.”
His further comments were laudatory of Australia, and extolled the value of Israel and Australia working in partnership in exploring Asian economic opportunity. But the purported remarks touching on racial characteristics are expected to stir resentment, especially among Asian delegations in Australia.
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, said yesterday it was investigating whether the remarks were made by Mr Tamir, who began his Australian posting in January last year. “Until that inquiry has come out with its findings, it would not be proper to comment,” he said.
In Canberra, however, the acting Israeli ambassador, Irit Lillian, said: “We at the Foreign Affairs Ministry see it in a very severe way, and we denounce [the comments] seriously and completely.”
She said Mr Tamir was on holiday, including a visit to Israel, where last week he met the Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, and urged her to visit Australia as a necessity in developing Asian trade.
The newspaper quoted Mr Tamir as saying Australia was on a par with the United States in terms of the intensity of its friendship with Israel, which “has a past and present in Europe, but no future. Israel is a part of Asia”.
Yesterday, the Australian Jewish News website reported Mr Tamir was returning to Canberra when he was ordered back to Jerusalem to clarify his comments.
Mr Tamir is a former ambassador to Finland and has served in diplomatic posts in Washington, Tokyo and Strasbourg. He is non-resident ambassador to New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
He also has lobbied hard in Jerusalem for the reopening of Israel’s Sydney consulate, which was closed four years ago to save on costs. Source
