This is not a very praiseworthy week for Israeli politicians. Naftali Tamir, Israel’s ambassador to the capital of Australia, Canberra, has come under fire after he told an Israeli newspaper that Australians and Israelis stood out in Asia because “we don’t have yellow skin and slanted eyes”. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has said an investigation was underway to confirm that the statement was indeed made by Tamir. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mark Regev, said that there would be no comment until the findings were out.

The Israeli newspaper, Ha’aretz, published the interview on Friday with Ambassador Tamir, who said Australia and Israel were “like sisters in Asia”. Tamir continued, “We are in Asia without the characteristics of Asians. We don’t have the yellow skin and slanted eyes. Asia is basically the yellow race. Australia and Israel are … basically the white race.”

His further comments were praiseful of Australia and stressed the importance of working in partnership so as to fully exploit Asian economic opportunities. Tamir was also quoted as saying that his nation had “a past and present in Europe, but no future. Israel is a part of Asia”. The acting Israeli ambassador, Irit Lillian said, “We at the Foreign Affairs Ministry see it in a very severe way, and we denounce [the comments] seriously and completely.”

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Perhaps it’s just me, but I imagine that Tamir put his feet on his desk during the interview while wearing these sneakers.