Netanyahu offers post of Israel’s consul general in New York to May Golan who calls herself ‘proud to be racist’
The right-wing lawmaker with a history of controversial remarks, sparking concern that her appointment could strain U.S.-Israeli relations

May Golan, minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in the Knesset, in March, 2023. Photo by Emil Salman
This article originally appeared on Haaretz, and was reprinted here with permission. Sign up here to get Haaretz’s free Daily Brief newsletter delivered to your inbox.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered the soon-to-be vacant position of Israeli consul general in New York to controversial Likud lawmaker May Golan.
Golan, who is considered one of the most ardent supporters of Justice Minister Yariv Levin and his planned judicial coup, would take over from Asaf Zamir, who resigned last month after warning U.S. Jewish donors against the government’s attempts to overhaul the judiciary. If Golan accepts the offer, she will have to resign from the Knesset, which would been seen as a possible setback for Levin’s camp and would come at a very sensitive time – with the prime minister supposed to decide on the future of the reform and perhaps even compromise over some of its elements.
Sources in Likud confirmed details of the proposal, which was first published by Channel 12 News on Wednesday evening. A subsequent statement issued by Likud, however, claimed that “the offer was made to Golan because of her excellent public diplomacy skills in English. Contrary to some claims, the offer has nothing to do with Justice Minister Levin, whom the prime minister values and counts on more than anyone else.”
Listen to That Jewish News Show, a smart and thoughtful look at the week in Jewish news from the journalists at the Forward, now available on Apple and Spotify:
Given Golan’s known hatred for refugees, her resentment toward leftists and her hostility toward feminists – in 2017 she called described “radical feminism as a hate movement” – she would likely be given a very frosty reception by the liberal Jewish community in New York. During her activist days, when she spearheaded rallies against African “infiltrators” in Tel Aviv, May proclaimed that, “If I’m racist in order to preserve my life, then I’m proud to be racist.”
Golan was originally appointed minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and the cabinet recently approved her appointment as the head of a new ministry dedicated to advancing the status of women. The new position for Golan, who is currently in the United States, was due to be ratified by the Knesset on Wednesday, but the vote was postponed.
Zamir resigned immediately after Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. A week early, he came out against the judicial coup while addressing the Jewish Museum’s annual fundraising gala, which gathers more than 900 significant donors from New York’s corporate, social and cultural communities.
“I’m deeply concerned about the direction the country is going in right now. If you want to have the national home and to be everyone’s home, it really must be democratic,” Zamir said to applause.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 2
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 3
Opinion Is this new documentary giving voice to American Jewish anguish — or simply stoking fear?
- 4
Opinion Mike Huckabee said there’s ‘no such thing as a Palestinian.’ It’s worth thinking about what that means
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Think every Palestinian in Gaza is Hamas? This week’s protests prove you’re wrong
-
Opinion A Palestinian Oscar-winner’s arrest shocked the world. For these Jewish activists, it was terrifyingly normal
-
Opinion In the Trump administration and Israel, a grotesque display of virility coupled with a loss of humanity
-
Fast Forward Cornell’s new Jewish president says he is ‘very comfortable with where Cornell is currently’
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.