From the Liveblog of
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Israel’s public diplomacy chief quitting after only eight months in the job – TV report
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Moshik Aviv, the head of the National Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office, has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he is leaving his job, Channel 12 news reports.
He was appointed only eight months ago.
He and Netanyahu agreed that he would wait for a successor to be appointed before stepping down.
Aviv’s post is the key position overseeing Israel’s public diplomacy efforts. It was Aviv who told English-language spokesman Eylon Levy that he was suspended “until further notice” in early March, prompting Levy’s departure from the directorate.
The official reason for Aviv’s departure is personal and health-related, the TV report says. It quotes sources in the Prime Minister’s Office saying, however, that there are other reasons for his departure, and noting that he is “a very statesmanlike person.” The report says that the political “intrigues” in the PMO would likely have been hard for him.
Public Diplomacy Minister Galit Distel Atbaryan quit her job five days after the October 7 Hamas invasion and massacre in southern Israel.
The TV report says spokesman Topaz Luk, the PMO’s CEO Yossi Shelley and Netanyahu’s chief of staff Tzachi Braverman are all also set to depart the PMO soon. Luk will move over to working for Netanyahu’s Likud party, Shelley is hoping to be appointed ambassador to Portugal and Braverman is also hoping for a prestigious new appointment, the report says.
The Times of Israel Community.