Fiamma Nirenstein grew up in Italy, lived in Israel for two decades as a correspondent for Italian newspapers, and served in the Italian parliament from 2008 to 2013. She has now been appointed Israel’s ambassador to Italy. Some Italian Jews have reportedly protested that her appointment raises questions about their own fealty to the Italian state. Ruthie Blum responds:
[Nirenstein] has never concealed her passion for Israel, a country she says is “filled with heroes.” And human rights. And the ability to retain its democratic principles even while forced, repeatedly, to go to war. Conveying this message is precisely what an Israeli envoy abroad should be doing. One who speaks the language and knows the culture of the country to which he is dispatched makes such a mission even more effective.
The only thing remotely problematic about Nirenstein’s appointment, then, lies in the irony that her recent official immigration to Israel is accompanied by returning to Italy for the next few years. Now she will do so after relinquishing her Italian citizenship, however, as is required of Israeli diplomats born [outside the country].
If the Jewish community in Italy is worried about backlash from this move, it is not Nirenstein they should be countering, but rather the anti-Semitic climate that is causing their angst. In any case, she claims that reports of its hysteria are being widely exaggerated, judging by the massive amount of enthusiasm she has encountered—on the part of Italian Jews and non-Jews across the political and cultural spectrum—since the announcement of her appointment.
Read more on Israel Hayom: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=13481