Israel Presses Brazil Over Ambassador

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel's designated ambassador to Brazil says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has encouraged him to push forward with his candidacy, despite apparent Brazilian concerns over his connections to the Jewish settler movement.

In a radio interview on Wednesday, Dani Dayan said he recently met with Netanyahu. He says the prime minister "asked me to persevere in my candidacy and not to withdraw it, since there are diplomatic repercussions."

Dayan was appointed to the post last August. But Brazil still not responded to an Israeli request to give him credentials, in what is seen as a protest against Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank.

Dayan is a former chairman of the Israeli settlers' council. The international community considers the settlements, built on lands claimed by the Palestinians, illegal or illegitimate.

(KA)