JERUSALEM, March 12 The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced Monday it is recalling the country's diplomat to El Salvador after he was found naked and tied up on a city street.
Ambassador Tsuriel Raphael was allegedly drunk when he was discovered two weeks ago by El Salvador police and was wearing accessories that are commonly used for sado-masochistic acts, the Jerusalem Post reported Monday.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a job listing for the position Monday, describing the ambassadorship to El Salvador as currently vacant.Raphael, who was born in the United States in 1952 and moved to Israel in 1971, began working in the Foreign Ministry in 1981. He served as the ministry's head of public relations from 1987-90.
The incident follows a 2006 report by State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss that criticized the hiring and promoting practices at the ministry.
The report said the appointments committee is not properly staffed, lacks criteria for examining candidates, is not transparent and there is reason to believe that in some cases the committee was just a rubber stamp for decisions that had already been made.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
