Former MK Collette Avital, who in the past served as Israel's ambassador to Portugal and the consul at Israel's consulate in New York, said at an event Sunday night that she had almost been the victim of a terrorist attack when she worked in the Israeli embassy in Paris, and that only an alert check of her car's exhaust pipe ensured that she remained uninjured.
The incident occurred several years ago, when she was part of the diplomatic staff in the Paris embassy. She discovered what appeared to be a bomb when she checked the pile, and called in security personnel, who removed the bomb.
Two weeks earlier, Israel's agricultural attache in Paris had been injured in a similar manner. As a result, all of the staff were on high alert, said Avital. The bomb had apparently been strong enough to kill her, security personnel told her later.
Avital told her tale at am event Sunday night at Netanya College, where she appeared with Dr. Meir Rosen, Israel's former ambassador to the U.S. and France. Rosen said that the “romantic” vision most people have of the diplomatic life is long gone. “Diplomacy is a very dangerous profession nowadays,” Rosen said. “It's no longer a life of sparkling cocktails, as many believe. You face danger daily.”
It's not just Israelis who are targets, Rosen said, but many Western countries are also targets of terrorists. Thus, an international effort is needed to attack terror. “Terror doesn't just hurt people, but it hurts all of us, if not physically, then economically,” he added.