Yevhen Perebyinis was a highly effective Ukrainian envoy to Prague, and it’s still a mystery why he was called home more than a year ago and still hasn’t been replaced. No one has filled the gap. The situa-
tion with Israel is different, in large part because, unlike Perebyinis, Amb. Anna Azari doesn’t speak Czech. She’s given a few interviews since the attack by Hamas, but bigger spokespeople for her coun-
try are Czech Amb. to Israel Veronika Kuchyňová Šmigolová and National Security Adviser Tomáš Pojar. Kuchyňová Šmigolová told Czech Radio on Tues. that she thinks a humanitarian pause in the bombing of Gaza is out of the question for now and that we some- times confuse the cause and the effect, because the bombing is the result of the attack by Hamas. This is a strong statement and gives the impression that the CR will accept any number of Gazan casualties. Azari herself was more diplomatic yesterday, telling Blesk thatnIsrael has the right to self-defense after such a Holocaust-like event but that she’s sorry for every innocent civilian who loses his life. Her country needs to figure how to make her its main voice in the CR.

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