Simona Frankel is the Israeli Ambassador to North Macedonia and was the Israeli Ambassador to Luxembourg and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

from 2015 until 2019. She is one of several ambassadors who have been rebuked for comments they made about violence in the Gaza Strip. She was summoned by the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel) The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( he, מִשְׂרַד הַחוּץ, translit. ''Misrad HaHutz''; ar, وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية) is one of the most important ministries in the Israeli government. The ministry's ...

shortly after being “dressed down” by “Belgium’s Foreign Minister

Didier Reynders Didier Reynders (; born 6 August 1958) is a Belgian politician and a member of the Mouvement Réformateur (MR) serving as European Commissioner for Justice since 2019. He held various positions in public institutions before becoming a member of t ...

... after she claimed that all Palestinians killed in border clashes earlier in the week were ‘terrorists.’” In 2019, Prime Minister

Xavier Bettel Xavier Bettel (; born 3 March 1973) is a Luxembourger lawyer and politician serving as Prime Minister of Luxembourg since 2013. He was previously a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1999–2013) and Mayor of Luxembourg City (2011–2013). Bett ...

of Luxemburg would not attend her farewell dinner. Bettel is gay and “that with all due respect to her work as ambassador, he can’t take part in a dinner for a representative from Israel, where one of its senior ministers made such comments about the LGBT community.“ (Education Minister

Rafi Peretz Rafael "Rafi" Peretz (; born 7 January 1956) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and politician. A former military officer and helicopter pilot who also served as the Chief Military Rabbi of the Israel Defense Forces, he was the leader of the Jewi ...

had advocated gay conversion)

Amir Ohana Amir Ohana ( he, אָמִיר אוֹחָנָה, born 15 March 1976) is an Israeli lawyer, former Shin Bet official and politician who currently serves a member of the Knesset for Likud. He previously held the posts of Minister of Justice and Mi ...

, Israel’s gay justice minister, asked why Bettel did not take a similar stance with Iran.

References

Ambassadors of Israel to Belgium Ambassadors of Israel to Luxembourg Israeli women ambassadors Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Ambassadors of Israel to North Macedonia {{Israel-diplomat-stub