• German Ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert is retiring after serving four years as Germany's top diplomat in Israel, expressing his deep connection to the country in a farewell video message in Hebrew.
• During his term, Seibert faced controversies including accusations of lacking empathy for Israel and attending a hearing at the Supreme Court that was seen as interference in internal affairs, with Germany's Foreign Office backing him in response.
• Seibert advocated for the release of abducted hostages, including German citizens, after a terrorist attack by Hamas, and expressed concern for the suffering of Palestinian civilians during the Gaza war, before being succeeded by Alexander Graf Lambsdorff as Germany's ambassador to Israel.

Germany's ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, aged 66, is retiring and bidding Israel farewell after serving four years as Germany's top diplomat there.

Tuesday will be his last working day, a spokesman confirmed.

"A big part of my heart will remain here," Seibert said in a video message on the platform X in fluent Hebrew. During a walk on the central Rothschild Boulevard in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, he listed 25 reasons why he would miss Israel.

These include Israeli songs, specialities and places, as well as the hoopoe, Israel's national bird. He also mentioned the Israeli-Palestinian forum of people who have lost relatives in the Middle East conflict.

Seibert also highlighted the Israel National Trail, which runs from the Lebanese border in the north to Eilat in the south. He himself had hiked many sections of the trail. He also paid tribute to Israeli volunteers who protect Palestinians in the occupied West Bank from settler violence.

Controversies during term, background on Seibert, successor

Seibert served during a particularly dramatic period in Israel and was not without controversy. After the ambassador addressed settler violence in a post on X in March, Israel's Foreign Ministry accused him of a lack of empathy for Israel. Germany's Foreign Office then demonstratively backed Seibert.

Back in 2023, Israel officially protested against Seibert attending a hearing at the Supreme Court as an observer on the controversial judicial reform. According to media reports, this was seen in Israel as interference in internal affairs.

Advocacy for hostages and Palestinian civilians

After the terrorist attack by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement on Israel on October 7, 2023, Seibert campaigned intensively for the release of the abducted hostages, among them German citizens.

At the same time, he repeatedly voiced concern about the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza war, in which tens of thousands of people have been killed.

Before moving to Israel, Seibert served for more than 11 years as government spokesman for then chancellor Angela Merkel. Before that, he worked as a television journalist for public broadcaster ZDF.

He will be succeeded in Tel Aviv by Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, currently Germany's ambassador to Moscow.