As an Israeli ambassador, Tsuriel Raphael was very accomplished at putting a gloss on delicate subjects, be it Tel Aviv's nuclear program, the treatment of Palestinians or the invasion of Lebanon.
When San Salvador police discovered him in his official embassy residence yard in the capital, however, smooth talk was not really an option. For starters there was the gag and the rubber ball in his mouth. There was also the matter of being drunk. And naked. And bound. And surrounded by sex toys.
Once he was untied and the gag and ball were removed, Raphael identified himself as the ambassador but for perhaps the first time in his diplomatic career, this was a crisis he could not explain away.
"The ministry sees his behavior as unbecoming of a diplomat," Zehavit Ben-Hillel, a spokewoman for the Israeli foreign ministry, said on Monday.
It was, she added, an unprecedented embarrassment.
Raphael was recalled home two weeks ago when the ministry first learned of the incident, but the news became public only on Monday, when reports surfaced in the Israeli media.
"He is going to remain in Israel," the spokeswoman said.
The ambassador did not break any law, so for the Salvadorean police the case is closed. The Israeli government must wish it could say the same; the incident raises questions not just about Raphael but about the foreign ministry's system of appointments.
Before being sent to El Salvador six months ago, the veteran diplomat had served in several other countries, including the US, and as director of the Israel Information Center in Jerusalem. He was a polished media performer and gave talks on Middle East geopolitics to think tanks, universities and lobby groups.
However, his adventure in San Salvador revived last year's criticism from a public service watchdog that the ministry lacked transparency in recruitment.
The embarrassing affair was one of several involving Israeli diplomats in recent years. In 2000, Israel's ambassador to France died of cardiac arrest in a Paris hotel under circumstances the foreign ministry refused to publicize. Media reports said he was with a woman who was not his wife at the time.
In 2005, Israel canceled the appointment of a diplomat to Australia after it was discovered he published pictures of nude Brazilian women on the Internet.
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