Lieberman blasted for naming 'party hack' as envoy to Moscow

Israel's embassy in Moscow is considered one of the most important missions of Israel in the world. Nonetheless, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will appoint as ambassador to Russia Dorit Golender, of Radio Reka in Russian, but lacking any diplomatic experience.

The Civil Service Commission has not expressed any opposition to the appointment, announced last Thursday.

Six weeks ago Lieberman offered Golender the job, and when she agreed he brought the matter to the Civil Service Commission, which discussed the matter and interviewed her. The opinion of the appointments committee suggests that the evaluation was at best superficial. It noted that Golender has "personal and professional contacts with media figures, politicians and others in Russia, and that she is well informed of what is going on in the country."

The committee also commented on her activities in immigration from Russia and recommends that the Foreign Ministry "complement her knowledge in diplomatic aspects of the position prior to departure."

Senior Foreign Ministry officials have described the appointment "bizarre." They say that Golender lacks the necessary knowledge and experience in order to deal with the issues that an embassy at that level is required to handle, such as the Iranian nuclear program, arms sales from Russia to Israel's foes, and the peace process.

"In order to be ambassador to Moscow, knowing Russia is not enough," says a senior official at the Foreign Ministry. "Diplomacy is a profession."

Golender, 60, is active in Lieberman's party, Yisrael Beiteinu. During the past 42 years she has served in a number of posts on Israel Radio in the Russian language.

After immigrating to Israel in 1967, she began working as a newscast presenter and then moved on to administrative positions, later becoming one of the founders of Reka. She has managed the radio station for the past 13 years.

The post of ambassador at the embassy in Moscow has been vacant since the summer, where Anna Azari completed a successful term of four years. Lieberman did not open the post for bidding within the ministry and decided that he should make it a political appointment, even though at least two experienced, Russian-speaking diplomats were available at the ministry for the post.

Golender told Haaretz that she is very well versed in developments in Russia. "I am faced with an enormous challenge and I will fulfill it. I have excellent interpersonal skills and I am very communicative. I need to learn a lot of things, something I am not hiding," she said.