Israel Chooses New Ambassador for Jordan

Published July 6th, 2000 - 03:00 GMT

Israel's foreign ministry has chosen a new ambassador for Jordan to replace Oded Eran, who has been involved in Palestinian-Israeli negotiations for the past nine months, an Israeli diplomat said Thursday.

"David Dadon was chosen by the foreign ministry to replace Ambassador Eran but his appointment must first be endorsed by the cabinet," Israeli embassy spokesman Roey Gilad told AFP.

Once that hurdle is over, Dadon's name will be submitted to the Jordanian authorities for approval, he added.

The English-language Jordan Times meanwhile quoted Gilad as saying "if everything proceeds smoothly the two procedures could be over in a couple of months."

The newspaper said that the Moroccan-born Dadon served as head of Israel's interest section in Morocco and head of the North Africa desk at the Israeli foreign ministry.

Eran is the second ambassador posted to Jordan since the kingdom signed a peace treaty with Israel in October 1994.

In October the Israeli government named Eran its top negotiator with the Palestinians, a delicate task, which has taken up most of his time and energy and which he juggled with his ambassadorial duties - AMMAN (AFP)