May Golan (Twitter)
The appointment of May Golan, a right-wing member of Israel’s Knesset from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party, as Israel’s new Consul General in New York has met with controversy and calls by some for the American government to reject her appointment. And now reports indicate that she might not be appointed after all.
The 36-year-old May Golan was first elected to the Knesset in 2022, the year in which Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing block won a majority of seats in the Knesset allowing him to return to office after an 18 month long absence.
May Golan is a controversial figure, in part, because she once described herself as “proud of being a racist.” The comment came when in 2012 she took part in protests against African migrants who were given sanctuary in Israel. Golan accused migrants – without foundation – of raping and killing Israelis. And Golan has also been affiliated with extremist Itamar Ben-Gvir’s right-wing Otzama Yehudit (Jewish Strength) Party in the past.
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State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel released a statement last week about May Golan’s appointment saying, “We would condemn such kind of rhetoric and believe that such kind of language is particularly damaging when it’s amplified in leadership positions.”
And May Golan is also controversial among Israelis because she declined to serve in the IDF claiming that she was religious. Religious women are allowed military exemptions in Israel if they declare that they cannot serve for religious reasons. But they are supposed to perform some form of volunteer duties as part of Israel’s national service program. However, not only did May Golan never perform national service duties, but in an interview Golan once said she was not religious.
May Golan was appointed to replace the former consul Asaf Zamir. Zamir resigned the position in protest over the planned judicial reforms proposed by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu. He was a member of the Knesset from the from Benny Gantz’s Blue and White Party that is now in the opposition and served briefly as Minister of Tourism.
Asaf Zamir began serving as Consul General in New York last October, just before his party and the last coalition government were voted out of office in the elections held last November.
Zamir had at first said that he would stay on in the post for the time being, before returning home to Israel. But three weeks ago, Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen fired Zamir saying, “a diplomat who takes a political side cannot represent the State of Israel for even one day.”
About her appointment, Golan had said, “I want to assure everyone that if I will be appointed, I will represent 100% the mainstream policies of PM Netanyahu and the Likud party to which I belong. I am completely committed to the unity of the Jewish people, and that is the exact policy that I will follow.”
As of Sunday morning, Israeli media is reporting that Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to scrap his plan to appoint May Golan to the position of Consul General in New York.
