Under a gag order from the Foreign Affairs Ministry preventing him from granting interviews until he formally assumes his post in September, Gillon was met at Copenhagen's airport by a barrage of questions from reporters. Most he avoided, or answered with short replies. "I am very happy to be Israel's ambassador to Denmark. It's a great honor," he managed to say.

Gillon was escorted by tight security from the terminal to

"Gillon is a very authentic representative of the country and the foreign minister who sends him." - Danish Foreign Minister Mogens Lykketoft

his limousine. According to Reuters, the Israeli embassy has hired a private security service firm to give Gillon round-the-clock protection. The security was being provided due to the wave of protests in Denmark against Gillon's human rights record as head of Israel's Shin Bet security service between 1994-1996. In a recent interview with Danish television, Carmi admitted authorizing the use of "moderate physical pressure" as a means of "self-defense against terrorism," words that were anathema to the Danes.

Gillon's appointment triggered attempts by human rights activists and left-wing opposition politicians in Denmark to arrest him when he arrived in Copenhagen and bring him to trial for allegedly violating a United Nations convention against torture. After much media coverage, the Danish government informed Israel that Gillon would enjoy full diplomatic immunity and there would be no interference in Israel's selection of its ambassador.

"Gillon is a very authentic representative of the country and the foreign minister who sends him," said Danish Foreign Minister Mogens Lykketoft. Lykketoft, who has previously denounced the use of torture, told the Danish daily Jyllands Posten, "People are wrong to direct the criticism against a person instead of a state." Lykketoft promised he would greet Gillon as tradition demanded.

Demonstrations of protest and support
Some 350 demonstrators, mostly Palestinians, massed yesterday afternoon outside the Israeli Embassy. They raised Palestinian and Hizbullah flags and their acts of protest included burning an improvised Israeli flag. Three young men in camouflage uniforms sat on chairs with their hands shackled and their eyes blindfolded with black cloth. On their knees, they held pictures of Gillon and above them a huge placard equated Gillon with torture. As Ha'aretz noted, the demonstration was clearly political. "We don't want peace. We want war in Palestine," some protesters shouted.

A larger demonstration followed, organized by leftist groups, union organizers and human rights activists. According to Ha'aretz, most of the Arabs left at this time. The speakers called on the Danish government to do its duty according to the UN Treaty Against Torture.

"Denmark is a democratic country and we want to ask the Danish people to refuse to accept Gillon as an ambassador," said Suleiman Zeidan, whose parents reportedly were born in Jaffa. Zeidan knew that Gillon had already arrived to take up his ambassadorial post. "We're doing what we can so that in the future he's removed or put on trial," he said.

The demonstrations against Gillon's arrival passed peacefully, with some 300 policemen accompanied by police dogs patrolling the cordoned-off street outside the Israeli Embassy. Maariv reported that the intense heat quickly defeated the protesters, who dispersed after a very short gathering.

In the evening, some 200 supporters of Israel, many of them Christian Danes, had their turn. In a show of support for Gillon and for the State of Israel, they lit candles and sang Christian and Israeli songs. "I am here to welcome the ambassador," said Inga Levin, a 50-year-old woman with a Danish flag. "It's sad that these demonstrators see only one side. There's so much hate here. The campaign against Gillon is not fair. Gillon supports peace and it's not true that all of Denmark is against him," she said.

In fact, the latest public opinion polls in Denmark, according to Danish television, now show that 57% of the population support Gillon's appointment as Israel's ambassador. Aviad Ivry, spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Copenhagen, told ynet of the increasing sympathy for Israel in the last few days. "As a result of the public debate over the Gillon affair, the Danes better understand the threats Israel is facing," Ivry said. Ivry said that the Gillon affair had actually aided the Israeli information campaign in the country.

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