Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday called on Israel's Consul-General in Boston Nadav Tamir to resign his post over a confidential memo in which he criticized the government for harming ties with the U.S. last week.
"Any official who can't abide by policy dictated by the elected government - must resign," Lieberman declared at a Foreign Ministry meeting.
The memo, which was addressed to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, stressed that the public spat between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama over the issue of a settlements freeze was causing Israel real strategic harm.
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Lieberman said Monday that the Consul's memo, which became public after it was leaked to the press, was unacceptable and stressed that Tamir should have voiced his criticism to his direct superiors and not have sent out a memo to the ministry.
"I have never received a complaint I didn't answer," Lieberman said. "The fact that the memo was sent to such a wide list of recipients raises the suspicion that it was meant to be leaked to the press."
Lieberman explained that at least four of the five political parties comprising the current coalition promote policies that are different from the previous government's, and that government officials must accept this fact. "In a democratic country, the executive officials carry out the policy determined by the political echelon."
Over the weekend, Lieberman instructed his ministry director to summon Tamir for consultation.
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