Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, tried to have government spokesperson Eylon Levy removed from his role for participating in the 2023 Israeli judicial reform protests before the Israel-Hamas War, N12 reported on Sunday night.
Tweets from the time of the weekly protests by Levy have reportedly circulated among the prime minister’s inner circle, and have upset some.
Levy has become something of the international face for the Israeli government in media outlets across the world as Israel battles to save its public image after the Hamas atrocities of October 7 and the subsequent ground invasion of Gaza.
Responding to the report, the Public Diplomacy Department stated, “The report is incorrect. The Public Diplomacy Department operates in a professional manner.”
Levy, who previously served as international media advisor to President Isaac Herzog, became an international viral sensation while representing the Israeli government in an interview with Sky News anchor Kay Burley.
Levy’s past criticism of Netanyahu’s government
Levy has criticized many members of this current Netanyahu-led government, as well as participated in the protests against the judicial reforms.
Asked if this background doesn’t contradict serving as a spokesperson for a government, he was against in an interview with The Jerusalem Post in December, Levy answered immediately, “I don’t think that personal, private, or political opinions about issues that aren’t even on the agenda at the moment are relevant.
“On October 7, we experienced the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. And in an incredible moment in Jewish history, after a year in which we were at each other’s throats, Israeli society as a whole rose to the challenge. And we dropped our Jewish wars. We put them to the side. And as they say in Hebrew, I came under the stretcher to support the war effort.
In the Sky News interview, Burley asked whether the hostage deal, which would trade 150 Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for just 50 hostages held by Hamas – or three Palestinians for every captive – meant that Israel valued Palestinian lives less than Israeli ones, at one-third the value. Levy responded by raising his eyebrows in astonishment and then a split second later answering in a way that made every supporter of Israel around the world proud.
The interviewer explained that she had spoken to a hostage negotiator in preparation for the interview and that he had said that the numerically unbalanced exchange spoke of Israel’s diminished valuation of Palestinian lives. Asked to comment on the above, Levy answered, with arched eyebrows in a look of shock, that the comment was “an astonishing accusation.”
“If we could release one prisoner for every hostage, we would do that. We are operating in horrific circumstances,” he said.
“We’re not choosing to release these prisoners who have blood on their hands. We are talking about people who have been convicted of stabbing and shooting attacks,” Levy stressed.
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