English-language spokesman Eylon Levy said suspended after angering the UK

Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy, November 2023. (Avner Hofstein / Times of Israel)
Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy, November 2023. (Avner Hofstein / Times of Israel)

Prominent English-language government spokesman Eylon Levy has been suspended from his post after complaints from the UK government, Channel 12 reports.

London reportedly raised concerns with the Foreign Ministry after Levy responded to a March 8 post on X by UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron saying, “We continue to urge Israel to allow more trucks into Gaza as the fastest way to get aid to those who need it.”

Levy reportedly responded to the post saying there were no problems with the capacity of aid trucks entering Gaza.

Following his tweet, the British Foreign Office asked if the tweet, seen as attacking Cameron, was Israel’s official position, Channel 12 reports.

Levy was since suspended and has been at home for more than a week, the report says, noting that he was unlikely to return.

News of his suspension comes on the same day that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bemoaned the fact that Israel had a dearth of spokespeople who could “string two words together” in English.

It also comes following reports earlier in the year that the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, was reportedly seeking to have Levy fired over past criticism of the premier, as well as over his participation in protests against the judicial overhaul over the course of last year.

Levy, who entered the role in the wake of the October 7 Hamas massacre after working as a journalist as well as an adviser to President Isaac Herzog, has become a familiar face on many US and UK TV networks presenting an erudite defense of the Jewish state and Israeli activity over the past several months.

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