Before meeting Biden, Foreign Ministry officials play some ping pong

Among the throngs of people trying to get into the Foreign Ministry for various reasons Monday was a group of journalists who had come to document a rare show of the ministry dealing with a ball that had been thrown into its court.

Indeed, the Foreign Ministry boasted its official table tennis skills, in the annual championship games against the all-stars of Israel's diplomatic corps.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman walked into the ministry lobby, now functioning as a table tennis venue, sporting a red-and-white tracksuit and grasped a paddle.

A Channel 2 news team caught Lieberman face off with the South Korean ambassador, Ma Young-Sam. Lieberman had practiced the evening before in the same lobby, and though he played with daring and tenacity, he was no match for the formidable ambassador and had to settle for losing with honor.

"He's a good player," Ma said afterward. "He makes things very difficult for his opponent."

Ze'ev Krauss, an old ministry hand and veteran table tennis player was less impressed. "Other than the Romanian and the Korean, everyone here plays at the country club level," he said. Around his neck hung two pendants, one a Star of David and the other a ping-pong paddle.

The Foreign Ministry chief of protocol, Yitzhak Eldan, had organized the event. At one point his mobile phone rang ¬ it was a colleague eager to hear results. The man on the other end was stunned that the Korean ambassador had bested Lieberman.

"Talk to him yourself," Eldan said, handing the phone to Ma.

"Indeed, I won," the ambassador replied. "I fear that tomorrow morning I'll be forced to leave the country."

But Ma soon faced a more intimidating opponent, Information and Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein. Edelstein had shown commitment and verve in his play until meeting Ma, and those in attendance were eager to see how the game would play out.

Time was running out ¬ Biden would soon arrive and Eldan was still in his gym shorts. And there was another concern ¬ out of all the days of the year on which to schedule a table tennis tournament, organizers chose International Women's Day, and yet not a single female participated in their competition.

Organizers took pains to draw a comparison to the historic 1971 table tennis series between American and Chinese competitors, which paved the way for diplomatic ties between the two powers in what became known as ping-pong diplomacy.

Asked about another variety of negotiation recently on display at the Foreign Ministry call it low chair diplomacy Eldan noted just how good the ministry's ties are with foreign diplomats. A Peruvian ambassador in the area tried to explain the absence of his Turkish counterpart.

"Maybe table tennis isn't a common game in Turkey, and the Turkish representative in Israel wanted to avoid humiliation," he reasoned.

Finally the competition ended. Second prize went to Ma, first to Edelstein.

"Now," Eldan said jovially, "I have to run to meet Biden."