Netanyahu reportedly pushing far-right MK to forgo ministerial post and become consul in NYC

The Knesset was supposed to vote today to approve Likud MK May Golan’s appointment as the next minister for the advancement of women’s status.

However, her name was dropped from the agenda at the last minute, and Channel 12 reports that this is because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pressuring Golan to forgo the ministerial position in order to instead become Israel’s next consul general in New York.

Ex-MK Asaf Zamir resigned from the post last month in protest of the government’s judicial overhaul effort.

Channel 12 says that Netanyahu’s effort to send Golan to New York is motivated by his desire to break apart a camp within the Likud led by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, which has grown increasingly influential in recent months.

Golan would likely be the most right-wing lawmaker to take the diplomatic position, given her ties to Itamar Ben Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party. In 2013, Golan ran on the list of the Otzma L’Yisrael party, a precursor to Otzma Yehudit that failed to make it into the Knesset. She more recently joined the Likud party serving briefly in the Knesset in 2019 before re-entering parliament in 2020 and remaining ever since.

Golan’s planned appointment to become the first-ever minister for the advancement of women’s status sparked outcry from women’s rights activists who said she has served as an obstacle to gender equality.

Last month, Golan voted against a bill that would have mandated an electronic monitoring system to track domestic abusers. Experts and proponents of the legislation say the tracking would save lives.

In July 2021, Golan opposed a bill that would have permitted the storage of forensic samples taken from victims of sexual crimes for an unrestricted time. That bill was designed to help victims in producing evidence that could be used in trials.