Netanyahu’s chief of staff to replace Hotovely as Israel’s ambassador to UK

Tzachi Braverman, the outgoing PMO chief of staff, is known as the “most powerful man in the Prime Minister’s Office.”

Tzipi Hotovely ended her five-year term as Israel’s ambassador to the UK on Monday and will be replaced by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman.

Braverman’s appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Civil Service Commission on Monday. However, the process takes several months, and Braverman will most likely not arrive in London until November.

The Appointments Committee gave Braverman the green light for the role, but approval from the government is still pending.

After this, Israel will send a formal request to the British government to approve the appointment.

According to Israeli media, Braverman, 66, is considered themost powerful man in the Prime Minister’s Office. He is known to be strict about what happens inside the office; nothing advances without his permission.

N12 described Braverman’s appointment as striking, given that he is the closest person to Netanyahu in the prime minister’s office.

Born in Tel Aviv on March 7, 1959, Braverman served in the IDF as a liaison training officer in the IDF’s 460th Bnei Or Brigade, and later obtained a law degree from Bar-Ilan University. He was a spokesperson for the Ness Ziona municipality and CEO of Ness Ziona’s educational and cultural institutions. He also served as Israeli Cabinet Secretary from 2016 to 2021.

Hotovely’s controversial term

Hotovely’s time as ambassador has not been without controversy.

Formerly Israel’s Minister of Settlements and National Missions, Hotovely succeeded Mark Regev in 2020. She is seen to be a religious right-winger and believes in Jewish sovereignty over the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.

She was recently rebuked for hersupport of the E1 development plan, which is intended to cut across parts of the West Bank. Hotovely told the Daily Mail she “sees the E1 as part of greater Jerusalem.”

This led certain UK members of parliament (MPs) to call for her expulsion from the UK. MP John McDonnell told the House of Commons in August that “We have an Israeli ambassador who’s an advocate of Greater Israel, refuses to recognize the Palestinian state, defies all the UN resolutions that have been passed about how we can secure that peace, and she still remains in this country.”

She has also been subjected to multiple threats to her security during her term, including during a high-profile incident at the London School of Economics (LSE) in 2021, where security staff had to escort her out due to violent protesters.