Iran nuclear talks show progress, Western diplomat says

Published on February 28, 2013

Nuclear talks between Iran and world powers this week were more constructive and positive than in the past, but Iran's willingness to negotiate seriously will not become clear until an April meeting, a senior Western diplomat said on Thursday.

Morocco evacuates Israeli diplomat

Published on March 26, 2012

Pro-Palestinian protests forced the evacuation of an Israeli diplomat from Morocco.

Diplomat challenges U.S. Jewish views on France

By Tom Tugend
Published on February 15, 2012

Francois Zimeray, France’s ambassador-at-large for human rights, was in Los Angeles recently, and during a two-hour breakfast of croissants and assorted fruits, shared two observations: First, though Israel has real enemies in the world, it also has a lot of friends, and not everybody wants to put down the Jewish state.

Hungary, Sweden launch Raoul Wallenberg Year

Published on January 18, 2012

Ceremonies in Budapest inaugurated Raoul Wallenberg Year, a series of events marking the centennial of the birth of the Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust.

As one, D.C. insiders speaking up for ousted Israeli diplomat

Published on October 10, 2011

Washington’s fractious Middle East policy community is speaking in one voice in support of Danny Arbell, an Israeli diplomat widely admired for his capacity for listening.

Egypt is not withdrawing Israel envoy, diplomat says

Published on August 23, 2011

Egypt is not preparing to withdraw its ambassador to Israel, an Egyptian diplomat said on Tuesday, playing down an earlier threat to bring home the envoy in protest at the killing of five Egyptian security personnel near the Israeli border.

Diplomat’s removal not due to threats, State Dept. says

Published on May 31, 2011

The U.S. State Department denied that the removal of one of its diplomats from Bahrain was due to threats. Ludovic Hood, a human rights officer, left Bahrain on May 26 following two months of threats, including Internet photos of Hood's wife and information on where he and his family lived, McClatchy Newspapers reported Tuesday.

No. 1 goal for new consul— telling L.A. ‘what Israel is’

By Tom Tugend
Published on December 6, 2007

Yaakov Dayan, the new Israeli consul general for the Southwestern states, has just moved into his high-rise office on Wilshire Boulevard.

The walls are bare and pockmarked with nail holes, but leaning against a chair are the first two pictures to go up. One is a head drawing of David Ben-Gurion, surrounded by the signatures of the state's founding fathers and mothers, affixed to Israel's 1948 Declaration of Independence.

Former Jewish Agency head tapped as Israel’s next ambassador to U.S.

By Ron Kampeas
Published on October 12, 2006

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni nominated Sallai Meridor on Oct. 4 to be Israel's next ambassador to Washington.

Israeli Diplomats Reach Out to L.A. Iranian Media

By Karmel Melamed
Published on September 7, 2006

Representatives from Southern California-based Persian-language satellite radio stations and television shows attended a special press conference on Aug. 28, held for them at Los Angeles' Israeli consulate, the first public interaction between the Israeli government and local Persian-language media in more than 25 years.

France Honors Quiet Diplomacy of Rabbi

By Tom Tugend
Published on April 13, 2006

Quiet diplomacy rarely makes headlines, but one example of the art received public recognition this month when France bestowed one of its highest honors on Rabbi Gary Greenebaum.

The Italian Job

By Rob Eshman
Published on September 30, 2004

Diego Brasioli is a diplomat with a secret life. Italy's consul general in Los Angeles is not, a la John le Carré, a spy on the side. But he is, a la John le Carré, a novelist.

One Tough Room

By Wildman Weiner
Published on August 12, 2004

As a Los Angeles Unified School District teacher of world issues for seniors in Los Angeles, I began yesterday's class by playing a taped interview of Michael Moore talking about his movie, "Fahrenheit 9/11." I had suggested that the class go see the film, so we could discuss it.

Q & A With Yuval Rotem

By Tom Tugend
Published on July 29, 2004

Consul General -- now Ambassador -- Yuval Rotem arrived as a 39-year-old career diplomat in Los Angeles in September 1999, with his wife, Miri, and their three children. He will return to Jerusalem Aug. 16, leaving behind hundreds of friends who consider him one of the most popular and effective envoys to have represented his country in Southern California, the Southwestern United States and Hawaii.

Out on a Limb

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 23, 2000

During the darkest days of the Holocaust, 63 diplomats from 24 countries risked their careers, in some cases their lives, by issuing unauthorized visas and protective letters to save an estimated 200,000 Jews.The deeds of four of these brave envoys are honored in the documentary film "Diplomats for the Damned," to air Sun., Nov. 26, on the History Channel.

Sugihara’s Mitzvah

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on November 2, 2000

"Sugihara" tells of the diplomat who defied his government by issuing thousands of visas to help Jews flee Kovno, Lithuania, on the cusp of the Shoah.

Reviews of “The Envoy” and “Hitler’s Head”

By Tom Tugend
Published on April 22, 1999

"You can't confront evil on its own ground without becoming part of it," muses diplomat Heinrich Zwygart in "The Envoy," and his self-recognition clearly applies to Switzerland, the country he represented faithfully in Berlin during the six years of World War II.