Ambassadors rarely issue public statements condemning their host country. When they do, it's usually after consulting with the top echelons of their foreign ministries, and receiving their blessing. In even rarer cases does a foreign minister instruct his ministry's spokesman to publicly back away from his ambassador's comments. Israel's ambassador in Budapest, Yossi Amrani, was at the center of such a singularly embarrassing experience when he demanded that Hungarian authorities put an end to a political campaign bearing anti-Semitic overtones.
With Israel's foreign minister instructing the ministry's spokesman to back away from Amrani's declaration, Israel's diplomatic envoys around the world learned that from now on they must be careful with what they say in condemning anti-Semitism. From now on, they must understand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also holds the position of foreign minister, reserves accusations of anti-Semitism for attacks against foreign politicians and left-wing activists who dare to oppose the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and act against Israeli settlements on those lands.
