US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, slated to end his tenure as ambassador soon, has asked the State Department to let him stay on until the end of the school year in Israel as a private resident, according to a Yediot Aharonot report.
This, just after he received a diplomatic reprimand from Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday, following the US abstention on the anti-Israel resolution in the Security Council.
Shapiro, who arrived in July 2011 as a personal appointment of President Obama, submitted his unusual request in order to enable his daughter, an 11th grader who is doing the Israeli Bagrut (matriculation examinations) to complete her studies.
If Shapiro's request will be authorized by the State Department, he will have to leave the ambassador's residence in Herzliya and transfer it to incoming ambassador David Friedman, who is supposed to arrive immediately after the Senate ratifies his appointment. If there are no unforeseen delays, Friedman, who is a close associate of Donald Trump, is expected to arrive in February or March 2017.
The American embassy responded by saying:"We will not respond on personal issues relating to the ambassador."
Shapiro's tenure is ending on an awkward note after the US abstained and did not veto the Security Council resolution at the end of the week, an act which contradicted Shapiro's declaration that the Obama administration would place a veto on any unilateral resolution against Israel.
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