Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday the appointment of Former Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely as Israel's next ambassador to the United Kingdom.
The government approved the nomination during its weekly meeting. If the UK Foreign Office accepts Hotovely's nomination – diplomatic formality by which a country confirms it will host another state's envoy to its capital – she will head to London in the fall.
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Hotovely currently serves as Settlement Enterprise Minister. It is unclear at this time who will replace her, but the most likely candidate is the "Minister without portfolio," Tzachi Hanegbi.
"Tzipi, I want to thank you for years of dedicated work, both in the Knesset and the cabinet," Netanyahu said at the beginning of the weekly meeting.
"You were deputy foreign minister, my deputy, for years. I was impressed by your dedicated work and by your willingness to learn things and to stand up for things – to stand up for our rights here in our land and the justice of the international struggle.
"I am certain that these qualities and this experience will find maximum and important expression for the State of Israel in the important place to which you are going, Great Britain. We know that there are complex challenges there and there is major work to do. I am certain that you will succeed," he said.
Hotovely, an outspoken advocate of the settlement movement, confirmed that Netanyahu had offered her the London post in July. A group of left-wing British Jews immediately posted a petition urging the British government to reject her as the new ambassador.
Hotovely has "an appalling record of racist and inflammatory behavior from throughout her political career," the petition said. "Her values and politics have no place in the UK."
As of Sunday, 1,864 people have signed the petition.
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