Apparently, Israel closing embassies was planned LAST YEAR!


Israeli consulate in Atlanta, 5 embassies to close next year

January 12, 2018 8:50 am

(JTA) – Israel is closing its consulate in Atlanta and embassies in six other countries, citing budget cutbacks.

Also facing closure are the Israeli embassies in Ireland, Belarus, Eritrea, the Dominican Republic, the consulate in the Indian city of Bengaluru and an embassy in either Latvia or Lithuania, Yedioth Aharonoth reported Friday.

The cutbacks were blamed on a series of agreements that give envoys and local embassy employees pay raises to the tune of $11.75 million. Staff staged demonstrations and even strikes in recent years to protest their wages and demand raises, arguing meager salaries – some as low as $1,200 per month for career diplomats – were ultimately compromising Israeli diplomacy’s efforts.

Officials threatened to close 22 offices abroad out of Israel’s total of 103 to justify the pay raises. But in negotiations between the foreign and finance ministries, the number was lowered to seven, to be closed down by 2022.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs will also cut 50 employees by 2022, many of them through early retirement.