Croatian President Zoran Milanovic announced on Monday that he refuses to approve the appointment of Israel's new ambassador to the country because of the Israeli government's policy on Gaza, reports AFP, taken by Agerpres.
Nissan Amdur, appointed Israel's ambassador to Croatia, “did not receive and will not receive” the approval of the head of state, this virulent critic of the Israeli military operations in Gaza indicates in a press release.
Amdur, appointed in November to replace the current ambassador, would nevertheless arrive in Croatia at the end of May as chargé d'affaires, a title that does not require presidential approval, according to the Times of Israel online publication.
“Granting or refusing approval for the proposed ambassadors is the sovereign right of the Republic of Croatia”, a member of the European Union, wrote Milanovic.
He also accuses Israel of “breaking the unwritten rule” by publishing the candidate's name before receiving the endorsement.
The left-leaning president is at odds, however, with the Croatian conservative government, which adopts a more pro-Israel position and strongly condemned the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
But, although the political powers of the Croatian president are limited, he is the one who must give the green light to the appointments of the new ambassadors.
The UN on Monday demanded that Israel take all possible measures to prevent acts of “genocide” in Gaza, denouncing signs of “ethnic cleansing” observed in the region and the West Bank.
Israel's military campaign of retaliation in the Gaza Strip since the attack by Hamas has left more than 72,700 dead, according to the Ministry of Health in the Hamas-run territory, whose statistics are considered reliable by the UN.
Despite a fragile truce concluded in October, the violence continues. Gaza's Health Ministry says at least 871 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the ceasefire, while the Israeli army counts five soldiers killed in the same period.
