Canada’s new Ambassador to Israel is Toronto lawyer Vivian Bercovici, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced Wednesday.
She is a former Finance Ministry policy adviser and a severe critic of the Palestinian Authority.
She’s smart and capable and will be able to represent this government well,” said Baird , who pointed out that she will be the representative to Israel exclusively and not the Palestinian Authority.
Asked about a general consensus that she is far from being a fan of the Palestinian Authority, Baird replied, “It won’t be a huge shock to anyone that Canada is a strong supporter of Israel.”
The appointment comes less than two weeks before Prime Minister Stephen Harper will make his first trip to Israel as head of the government.
Bercovici writes a column in the Toronto Star, where last April she lambasted major media for not exposing the Palestinian Authority’s goon squad tactics to squelch press freedom while trying to turn Israel into a miserable offender.
Last January she wrote, “The Palestinian leadership, in the meantime, carries on with its unequivocal message — calling for the destruction of Israel — disseminated openly in political forums, the tightly controlled media and taught freely in schools and universities.
“That western leaders, among them President Barack Obama and U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague, regard Israel as the peace spoiler, defies logic.”