Ambassador Moshe Kamhi, who previously served at the Israeli Embassy in Ankara as a senior official, is expected to begin work in İstanbul in mid-August. Kamhi was born in İstanbul and spent his childhood and early youth in the city until he immigrated to Israel in 1968.
“It is a different feeling to serve in the city I was born in,” Kamhi told Today's Zaman, speaking in fluent Turkish. He said his appointment to the top Israeli state job in İstanbul would contribute to Israel's public diplomacy efforts to improve its image among Turks.
Relations between Turkey and Israel were strained after Israel launched a deadly offensive in Gaza in January, killing about 1,400 people. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stormed off the stage at a World Economic Forum panel discussion in Davos in late January after an exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres on the Gaza operation. However, dialogue has been restored, and the two countries still cooperate in defense and military matters.
Israel earlier appointed a Turkish-born diplomat as its ambassador in Ankara. Ambassador Gaby Levy, originally from the Aegean town of Bergama, was appointed to the post last year.
