Report: Dershowitz Turned Down Job as Israel’s U.N. Ambassador

By JTA May 4, 2010

Alan Dershowitz reportedly turned down an offer to serve as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman assiduously courted the well-known Jewish-American lawyer, Yediot Achronot reported Tuesday.

If he had accepted Israel’s most senior diplomatic post, Dershowitz , 72, would have had to make aliyah.

Dershowitz is a prominent advocate for Israel in the United States.

Netanyahu and Lieberman failed to agree on Lieberman’s first choice for the position, former Israeli Consul General to the United States Alon Pinkas.

Israel’s current ambassador to the U.N., Gabriella Shalev, will complete her two-year term at the end of August and has said she will return to Israel to continue her academic endeavors whether or not a new ambassador has been named.

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