Israel's new ambassador to Norway will be Professor Naim Ariadi, a literature and philosophy professor at Hebrew University and a member of the Druze community. Ariadi is not a professional diplomat, and was appointed personally by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman under a clause that allows him to appoint a certain number of professionals without requiring government approval for the appointment.

In a statement, Lieberman said that Ariadi's “experience and academic talent, and the fact that he is a professor of literature and philosophy, will make it easier for him to communicate with other academics in campuses in Norway, where there is a bitter campaign against Israel.” Last weekend, Norway led an unsuccessful campaign to enable the Palestinian Authority to join the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as observers. The attempt failed when 28 nations opposed the move, versus 21 that approved it.