Israel envoy to Canada hints at resignation over Netanyahu’s controversial new plans – National

Israel‘s ambassador to Canada says he intends to leave his post early after a change in government back at home as protests mount in Tel Aviv over controversial new policies.

Ronen Hoffman said on Twitter late Saturday that he is making the move due to a change in direction under the new government.

“With the transition to the new government and to different policy in Israel, my personal and professional integrity has compelled me to request to shorten my post and return to Israel this summer,” the envoy said in a tweet.

“I will continue serving the State of Israel here in Canada with the same passion and pleasure until a replacement is appointed later this year.”

Hoffman, who was appointed to the role just over a year ago, did not elaborate on what he meant by “different policy.” A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in Ottawa said on Sunday that he had no further information to add.

His decision comes after Yael German, Israel’s ambassador to France, announced in late December that she was resigning in protest of the incoming administration led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has returned to power with a governing coalition described as the farthest to the right in the nation’s history.

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Shimon Fogel, the CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, called Hoffman an “outstanding individual” who is ultimately unable to reconcile his personal views with those advanced by the government he’s supposed to represent.

“He comes from a different political tradition and he would be consistent with those who express concern about the direction that the government’s going in,” Fogel said.

He added that Hoffman’s was a political appointment by a previous government of a different stripe, and that it is not unusual for such envoys to resign following national elections. That’s typically what happens with…