Few senior officials may be said to represent the quintessential civil servant — the public official who performs his role with impeccable professionalism — as does Yaakov Levy, Israel's outgoing ambassador to the Czech Republic. And when a loyal advocate of the state of Israel like Levy sharply criticizes the government’s policy on Europe, then the policy-makers in Jerusalem had better examine their actions — and all the more so their failures.
In recent years, the Czech Republic has emerged as Israel's most consistent supporter. It was the only one of the EU member states to have voted in September in the UN General Assembly against the Palestinian Authority's bid for recognition as a non-member observer state.