JERUSALEM - Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has decided to recall the country's ambassador to Washington, Danny Ayalon, as part of an increasingly bitter spat between the two men, public radio reported Monday.
Sources close to Shalom told the radio that the minister has decided to end Ayalon's tenure immediately after the conclusion of an inquiry into the behaviour of his wife Anne towards embassy staff rather than wait until the end of his mandate in August.
Ayalon himself has already filed a complaint against Shalom and his wife Judith, the main owner of the top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily, for allegedly trying to have the ambassador's secretary dismissed.
The Israeli media, which has lapped up the story of a fallout between the two men's wives, has reported that Judith Shalom's ire was provoked by Ayalon's secretary's failure to arrange for her to meet US pop superstar Madonna.
Ayalon and Shalom are understood to have been barely on speaking terms for months.
While aides to the minister insist that it is his prerogative to recall the ambassador, Ayalon is known to be close to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who is likely to oppose any such move.
The premier has increasingly bypassed Shalom, especially over the selling of his Gaza Strip pullout plan which the foreign minister has never backed wholeheartedly.
There was no official comment to the radio report from the foreign ministry.
05/16/2005 06:07 GMT