Israel’s pick for ambassador to Italy withdraws her candidacy

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s choice for Tel Aviv’s ambassador to Italy, Fiamma Nirenstein, has withdrawn her candidacy citing “personal reasons”.

Nirenstein, a former Italian journalist and lawmaker, immigrated to Israel in 2013.

“I thank the prime minister for the confidence he placed in me and I will continue to contribute to Israel as much as possible,” she wrote in an e-mail to journalists.

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported last month that in an article in the Italian press in 1996, Nirenstein criticised Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, describing her as a “monster dressed up as a first lady”.

Earlier, Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper reported that the Italian foreign and defence ministries had expressed their concern over Nirenstein’s appointment highlighting that she would continue to receive a salary as a former Italian parliamentarian even while serving as Israel’s ambassador and that as former vice president of Italy’s foreign affairs committee she was exposed to state secrets. They added that her son has a job in the Italian intelligence services.