Israel to dismiss 3 officials who criticised Netanyahu

Three senior Israeli officials, including an ambassador, are to be dismissed by the foreign ministry following Tweets they published criticising Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, local media reported yesterday.

Ambassador to Switzerland Yigal Caspi and two other diplomats Assaf Moran from the New Delhi embassy and Yaron Gamburg from the Paris embassy after they retweeted messages critical of Netanyahu and the Israeli government.

All the three officials have been recalled to Israel for investigation and punishment.

“These three workers have been removed from their posts immediately,” a foreign ministry source was quoted as saying according to Times of Israel. “The three of them will have a hearing before being fired, as the minister instructed.”

The source also said: “It is unacceptable for employees, who are supposed to represent the country, to write these kinds of things about the prime minister, about ministers, and about the country.”

“If this is against freedom of speech,” the source said: “They can do so as private individuals, but not when they are civil servants who are supposed to represent us around the world.”

Caspi retweeted messages from several Israeli journalists, some of which were highly critical of the government as well as of Netanyahu’s upcoming visit to Washington.

One of the tweets retweeted on Caspi’s account was originally posted by the Haaretz daily’s diplomatic correspondent, Barak Ravid, who had complained that “every time one thinks Netanyahu has taken the relationship with the White House to the lowest point ever, he manages to take it even lower.”

Both Gamburg and Moran had retweeted comments from other users criticizing Netanyahu and other members of his cabinet.