Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to appoint Fiamma Nirenstein as Israel's next ambassador to Italy. If the appointment is approved and Nirenstein assumes the post, she will not need much time to adjust to life in Rome, as she is a former member of the Italian parliament. Nirenstein, an Italian Jew born in Florence, is a journalist who was elected to the Italian parliament in 2008 as a member of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom party. She served as the vice president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies until 2013. She also headed the Committee for the Inquiry into anti-Semitism. Nirenstein is a member of European Friends of Israel and a founding member of the Friends of Israel Initiative. In 2011, she was elected as head of the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians. Considered to be one of the leading European pro-Israel voices, Nirenstein has published 10 books in Italian and two in English. In 2013, she made aliyah to Israel and received Israeli citizenship. With her appointment as ambassador to Italy, Nirenstein will have to give up her Italian citizenship. It is estimated that, following the appointment approval process, Nirenstein will start her new job in the summer of 2016. Netanyahu met with Nirenstein on Monday. The prime minister said, "I am convinced that Fiamma Nirenstein will bring with her to the position her considerable diplomatic and political experience, and will succeed in deepening relations between Israel and Italy, our close friend, including in the diplomatic, economic, cultural and security spheres. The connection between Jerusalem and Rome is over 2,000 years old. I am pleased to send Fiamma Nirenstein to strengthen this link." Nirenstein said, "I am happy to accept this mission that the prime minister has set before me, to strengthen relations between Israel and Italy. I promised the prime minister that I would do everything in my ability to strengthen the brave links between the two countries." Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said, "Netanyahu was impressed by Nirenstein's considerable abilities, talents and connections in the Italian political system, which is why he decided to appoint her to the post." Early in her life, Nirenstein held left-wing views regarding Israel. But, as she told Israel Hayom in a 2011 interview, her first visit to Israel in 1967 before the Six-Day War broke out shifted her views rightward. Monday's move marked Netanyahu's second ambassador choice in recent days. Last week, the prime minister decided to appoint former Yesha Council chief Dani Dayan as Israel's next ambassador to Brazil.
