Netanyahu may spark new Israel-US crisis by tapping Golan as NY envoy

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could spark another crisis between his government and the Biden administration by tapping May Golan as a potential New York consul general, a move that has yet to be finalized.

Two media outlets reported on Saturday night that Netanyahu had backed away from the Golan appointment in light of US objections to the matter.

Biden administration objects to potential May Golan appointment

US State Department spokesman Verdant Patel frowned on such a move Thursday when asked during a press briefing about comments the 36-year-old Likud minister has made in the past against African asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants in south Tel Aviv.

“Broadly, we would condemn such kind of rhetoric and believe that such kind of language is also particularly damaging when it’s amplified in leadership positions,” Patel said.

Patel did not expand on the matter further. But under the terms of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the US has the right to refuse to allow Golan to fill the role of consul general in New York.

Left-wing Jews reject May Golan

Left-wing Jewish groups have already spoken out against the move, which would need government approval.

Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the executive director of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, tweeted, “May Golan [and] her racist politics are not welcome here. If she is appointed as consul general, American Jews will give her a proper reception, just as we did to Smotrich.

J Street said, “This appointment would be another affront by the Netanyahu government to shared democratic values, and an offense to the people – Jewish and non-Jewish alike – of a city that embodies America’s commitment to vibrant diversity.”

Golan tweeted on Thursday, “I am very flattered to be considered for the post of Israel’s consul general in NY.

“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,” she wrote. “I am completely committed to the unity of the Jewish people, and that is the exact policy that I will follow. If appointed, I will work with the leaders of all the Jewish organizations – as part of the effort to strengthen the great partnership between Israel and the American Jewish communities.”

I am very flattetrd to be considered for the post of Israel's consul general in NY. 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…

— May Golan מאי גולן (@GolanMay) April 20, 2023

Prior to her entry into the Knesset in 2019 on the Likud ticket, Golan was one of the more recognizable faces of the battle against the presence in Israel of African asylum-seekers and migrants, particularly in her neighborhood of south Tel Aviv.

In 2011, she was filmed at a rally stating that outside her home were migrants who one could see from their eyes wanted to kill her but no one believed it.

“We’re racist because we want to preserve our lives and our sanity. I am proud to be a racist. If I am racist in order to preserve my life, then I am proud,” she stated at the time.

In an interview with the Hebrew daily Haaretz in 2014, Golan alleged that the migrants posed a health risk.

“I believe that infiltrators don’t have to work in restaurants. I check every restaurant before I go in and call on Israeli citizens who care about themselves and their health to do the same thing.”

Until her name was raised for the New York consul general post, Golan had been poised to be named to a newly created ministerial post for women’s affairs.

The New York Consular General post has been vacant for close to a month, since Asaf Zamir resigned from the role to protest the government’s judicial overhaul plan.

The plan has also generated tension between Netanyahu and the Biden administration, which fears it would weaken Israeli democracy.

US President Joe Biden clarified last month that Netanyahu would not be invited to the White House in the near term.

Comments by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who called for the IDF to wipe out the West Bank Palestinian town of Huwara, have also added stress to the situation. Smotrich later clarified that he meant the IDF should act against terrorists in the town.