Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird. Photo: wiki commons.

JNS.org – Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has named Vivian Bercovici as the country’s new ambassador to Israel.  Bercovici is an attorney at Dickinson Wright LLP and a former senior policy adviser to former Ontario Finance Minister Ernie Eves. She is known for her strident pro-Israel positions, and for openly criticizing the Palestinian Authority and Hamas.

“She is a lawyer with 24 years of experience. She’s smart and capable and will be able to represent this government well,” Baird said, Canada’s CBC News reported. His announcement comes just weeks before Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit Israel, his first official trip to the region.

“We’re delighted with the appointment of Ambassador Bercovici. She will bring our bilateral relationship to a new level that is entirely consistent with the government’s already strong pro-Israel position.  We think she will do great things,” Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the main body of Canadian Jewish organizations, told JNS.org.