The Foreign Ministry’s appointments committee on Sunday tapped Ishmael Khaldi to serve as ambassador to Eritrea in what will make him the first Bedouin to serve as an Israeli ambassador abroad.
His appointment was announced along with 10 others that will all be subject to the government’s approval.
He said the guards constricted his neck and made it difficult for him to breathe, and one placed a leg on his head until another guard told him to stop.
One of the guards said that Khaldi refused to show ID, though the diplomat denies this.
A police spokesperson confirmed that an investigation into the matter was ongoing.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson called the incident “embarrassing” and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi similarly apologized.
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman lauded the appointment in a Sunday tweet, saying Khaldi had served as a trusted adviser when he was foreign minister. “He is known as an Israeli patriot who defends the state insistently all around the world.”