Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky

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.”

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.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Make a matched gift today.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT