"The coming days are a final chance to stop or at least to slow Israel's diplomatic decline," Dov Weissglas, who was bureau chief for Ariel Sharon when he was prime minister, wrote in Wednesday's Yediot Aharonot newspaper.
He doubtless believes that, under his leadership, Britain can be a force for good; he probably does not see it as part of his prime-ministerial mission to preside over a diplomatic decline.Nevertheless, assertive international engagement seems to be a luxury that the country cannot afford in the downturn.
Victor Cha, a Georgetown professor and senior advisor at the foreign relations think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told VICE News that the latest rekindling of relations between the nations has a volatile history dictated by external developments and diplomatic declines.
When diplomatic envoys had an audience with Vlad in 1459, the diplomats declined to remove their hats, citing a religious custom.
Some foreign diplomats called the policy an overreaction, and said the problem was improving, with tickets issued to diplomatic cars declining to 52,000 last year from about 160,000 in 1996.
And while some fairs hire show herds to fill their barns" — citing diplomatic concerns, she declined to name any of these dissemblers — "we've kept it real.
American officials say Venezuela ignores diplomatic requests and declines to sign agreements the United States requires to transfer or service American-made military equipment.
Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman, who is leading the diplomatic outreach, also declined a separate request for an interview on the talks, which began after Iran repeatedly refused to comply with Argentina's order for international arrest warrants for nine people.
While he pushed for the ouster of the previous American ambassador, who had derided Mexican law enforcement and military agencies in diplomatic cables, he declined to criticize the United States over a program known as "Fast and Furious" in which American agents lost track of weapons they had allowed to cross into Mexico, with dozens ending up at crime scenes.
A diplomatic source, who declined to be named, told Reuters that South African security services believed those responsible for the latest attack were intelligence personnel attached to the Rwandan embassy.
Leahy's predecessor, Lord MacLaurin, has been less diplomatic about Tesco's decline.
