Israel refuses to accept new New Zealand ambassador: report

Israel has told the New Zealand government that it will not accept New Zealand's new ambassador because the ambassador was also accredited to the Palestinian Authority, according to reports on Monday.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully said New Zealand was looking at what arrangements could be made to ensure that it had representation for Israel and the Palestinian authority, Radio New Zealand reported.

The Israeli embassy to New Zealand said in the report that the matter was totally unconnected to the good relations between Israel and New Zealand.

Prime Minister John Key told Radio New Zealand the stance concerning the ambassador, who was based in Turkey, was inconvenient.

"We'll need to think about the logistics and the complications of that, because as I say typically our person in Ankara is the person we've accredited to Palestine and Israel and so it would be obviously pretty inconvenient for us if we couldn't do that," Key reportedly said.