Israeli Ambassador in a Bind

AMBASSADOR WEAR Bondage mask

Israel just can't seem to get a break. The Mideast peace process is in shambles. Hamas controls the West Bank, and now, a naked ambassador has been found bound, gagged, and drunk outside his El Salvadorian embassy.

Luckily the official in question, Tsuriel Raphael, had worked as the Israeli Foreign Ministry's head of public relations from 1987 to 1990, and so had the common sense to hide his junk behind strategically placed studded straps—or at least some form of bondage gear and what reports describe as "several sex toys."

Though it wins the prize for originality, this is just the latest embarrassment in a string of Israeli scandals. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is being investigated over the sale of a bank. President Moshe Katsav is being charged with rape and abuse of power. And even the Raphael incident proves the criticism in a 2006 report that criticized the promoting practices at the Israeli Foreign Ministry.