From the Liveblog of
Sunday, March 29, 2026
Opposition slams Netanyahu for tolerating racist comments by former and potential spokespeople
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Members of the opposition slam Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for tolerating racism following a television report that the incoming replacement for former spokesman Ziv Agmon has a history of making bigoted and prejudiced remarks.
According to Channel 12, Netanyahu’s next spokesperson will be Likud and animal rights activist Tal Gilboa, whom the network quoted as publicly attacking Russians, members of the LGBTQ community and meat eaters, among others.
In a report yesterday, the network quoted Gilboa as saying she would not donate blood to an elderly leukemia patient because he is not a vegan nor to an 8-year old cancer patient, stating that if a meat-eater dies that means “less suffering.”
She also reportedly called a social media user a “gay piece of crap” and referred to Russians as “disgusting.”
Channel 12 also reported that Gilboa had a history of confrontations with opposition activists and has referred to demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza “whores.” Gilboa is reportedly related to freed hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal.
The Prime Minister’s Office has not confirmed Gilboa’s appointment, which was announced by her partner, and has not replied to a request for comment from The Times of Israel.
Responding to the news of Gilboa’s apparent pending appointment, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid tweets that Netanyahu “replaced a racist against Moroccans with a racist against Russians.”
“Such statements have no place in the State of Israel in 2026, and certainly not in the Prime Minister’s Office. This is a fundamentally flawed appointment,” Lapid writes.
Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party, which represents many Russian-speaking voters, writes on X that “it seems that racism is a condition of acceptance into Netanyahu’s office.”
Agmon quit last week after Channel 12 reported that he had both criticized the prime minister and referred to Likud lawmakers of Middle Eastern, or Sephardic, descent in racist terms.
He allegedly called MK Nissim Vaturi a “baboon” and MK Eli Revivo a “retarded Moroccan,” and said that “it’s unclear how these people get elected to the Knesset.”
Agmon was also said to have called MK Eli Dallal a “nobody,” adding: “What baboons. It’s a shame we can’t just appoint the entire list and do away with the primaries.”
Netanyahu has not publicly commented on Agmon’s statements.
The Times of Israel Community.