MANILA, 8 June 2005 — The Philippines said yesterday it has recalled its ambassador to Israel as a result of his controversial remark comparing Israeli immigration police to the Nazi secret police.
Ambassador Antonio Modena has been instructed to return home for “regular home office consultations,” said Albert Asuque, spokesman of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila.
Modena had earlier said the alleged mistreatment of illegal foreign workers, including Filipinos, by Israeli immigration police was no different from what Hitler’s Gestapo did to Jews during World War II.
“Just like the Nazis treated the Jews, you know, that’s how the immigration police treat us,” he was quoted by Israeli newspapers as saying.
He gave the interview after his complaint with the Israeli Interior Ministry over the alleged segregation of Filipino workers and travelers at the back of commercial planes bound for Israel were ignored.
Israeli officials demanded an apology, saying Modena’s comments were inconsistent with “excellent” Philippine-Israeli relations.
There are about 30,000 Filipino workers in Israel, most of whom work as caregivers.
On Monday, Modena apologized to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which immediately accepted the apology and considered the matter closed.
In a statement, the DFA labored to explained that Modena’s trip to Manila was approved before the controversy and that he was not being recalled. Asuque said Modena will return to his post in Israel.
Amid the DFA’s retreat, the advocacy group Migrante International demanded that the Israeli government apologize instead for the mistreatment of Filipino workers.
“They should be the ones to apologize, not Ambassador Modena,” said Migrante chairwoman Connie Bragas-Regalado, noting that the mistreatment of Filipino workers did not stand well for good relations between the Philippines and Israel.
