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Israeli Embassy apologizes for misuse of Singapore flag

Xinhua, December 31, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Israeli Embassy in Singapore apologized for an incident in which the Singapore flag was misused as a table cloth by one of its junior diplomat at a party on Sunday, local media reported on Wednesday.

The embassy said it was "appalled" to learn of the "deplorable behavior" displayed by one of its junior staff members and expressed its sincere apologies in a statement on Wednesday night. But the embassy didn't mention details of the incident.

According to local newspaper the Straits Times, a netizen on Monday updated a post about the Singapore flag being used as a table cloth at a party at the Levelz Condominium at Farrer Road on Sunday on the citizen news site, All Singapore Stuff. The author of the post said that police report was made on Sunday.

Singapore Police Force found that the party was hosted by a junior Israeli diplomat after investigations, and then the Israeli Ambassador was summoned by Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

"The Director General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has instructed that requisite strong disciplinary procedure will be adopted against the individual after his meeting with the Singapore authorities, reflecting the severity with which Israel views this incident, especially in light of the close and friendly relationship between Singapore and Israel," the Israeli embassy said.

MFA welcomed the Israeli Embassy's apology and assurances. A spokesman of MFA said that all persons, including diplomats and foreigners in Singapore, must respect and abide by Singapore's laws and regulations. Endit